Sinhala script: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Abugida writing system}}

{{use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox writing system

| name = Sinhala script (Sinhalese)

| fam3 = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]

| fam4 = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]

| print =

| sisters = [[Tamil-Brahmi]], [[Gupta script|Gupta]], [[Bhattiprolu script|Bhattiprolu]], [[Kadamba script|Kadamba]], [[Tocharian script|Tocharian]]

| iso15924 note =

| note =

}}

{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

 

The '''Sinhala script''' ({{lang-si|සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාව|Siṁhala Akṣara Mālāva}}), also known as '''Sinhalese script''', is a [[writing system]] used by the [[Sinhalese people]] and most [[Sri Lankans]] in [[Sri Lanka]] and elsewhere to write the [[Sinhala language]] as well as the [[liturgical language]]s [[Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]].{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=408}} The Sinhalese Akṣara Mālāva, one of the [[Brahmic scripts]], is a descendant of the [[Ancient India]]n [[Brahmi script]]. It is also related to the [[Grantha script]].<ref name="masica">{{cite book |last1=Masica |first1=Colin P. |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |date=1993 |page=143}}</ref>

 

==History==

Sinhala script is an [[abugida]] written from left to right. It uses [[consonant]]s as the basic unit for word construction as each consonant has an [[inherent vowel]] ({{IPA|/a/}}), which can be changed with a different vowel stroke. To represent different sounds it is necessary to add vowel strokes, or diacritics called {{lang|si|පිලි}} (Pili), that can be used before, after, above, or below the base-consonant. Most of the Sinhala letters are [[curlicue]]s; straight lines are almost completely absent from the alphabet, and it does not have joining characters. This is because Sinhala used to be written on [[Palm leaf manuscript|dried palm leaves]], which would split along the veins on writing straight lines. This was undesirable, and therefore, the round shapes were preferred. Upper and lower cases do not exist in Sinhala.<ref name="Dalton">{{cite web |title=The Sinhala Script |url=https://blog.daltonmaag.com/tag/non-latin-fonts/ |website=Dalton Maag |access-date=26 August 2018 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826150426/https://blog.daltonmaag.com/tag/non-latin-fonts/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

 

 

 

 

 

===Consonants===

 

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! scope=row | [[velar consonant|velar]]

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! scope=row | [[palatal consonant|palatal]]

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! scope=row | [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]]

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! scope=row | [[dental consonant|dental]]

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! scope=row | [[labial consonant|labial]]

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====Prenasalization====

 

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[[Image:ශ්‍රී (Śrī) in Sinhala with components marked.svg|thumb|right|The [[glyph]] for ''[[shri|śrī]]'', which is composed of the letter ''ś'' with a ligature indicating the ''r'' below and the vowel ''ī'' marked above. ]]

 

 

 

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==Vowels and diacritics==

 

 

 

 

===Śuddha vowels===

 

 

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{{noteFoot|group=shortVowels}}

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The ''miśra'' {{angle bracket|ṛ}} can also be written with ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|r}}+{{angle bracket|u}} or {{angle bracket|u}}+{{angle bracket|r}}, which corresponds to the actual [[pronunciation]]. The ''miśra'' syllabic ḷ can be replaced by ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|l}}+{{angle bracket|i}}.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=14}} Miśra {{angle bracket|au}} is rendered as ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|awu}}, ''miśra'' {{angle bracket|ai}} as ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|ayi}}.

 

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{{noteFoot|group=misravowels}}

 

===Other diacritics===

 

==Letter names==

{{Main|Sinhala numerals}}

 

 

 

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==Transliteration==

 

==Use for the Pali language==

 

 

The {{IAST|niggahīta}} is represented with the sign ං.

 

==Relation to other scripts==

;Similarities

Sinhala is one of the [[Brahmic family|Brahmic scripts]], and thus shares many similarities with other members of the family, such as the [[Kannada]], [[Malayalam]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Tamil script]] and [[Devanāgarī]]. As a general example, {{IPA|/a/}} is the inherent vowel in all these scripts (except Devanagari, where it is /ə/).{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=408}} Other similarities include the diacritic for {{angle bracket|ai}}, which resembles a doubled {{angle bracket|e}} in all scripts and the diacritic for {{angle bracket|au}} which is composed of preceding {{angle bracket|e}} and following {{angle bracket|ḷ}}.

 

Likewise, the combination of the diacritics for {{angle bracket|e}} and {{angle bracket|ā}} yields {{angle bracket|o}} in all these scripts.

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==External links==

{{Commons category|Sinhala script}}

*[http://www.ceylon-online.com/sinhala_sign_page.html Complete table of consonant-diacritic-combinations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806024953/http://www.ceylon-online.com/sinhala_sign_page.html |date=6 August 2009 }}

* [http://www.kaputa.com/uniwriter Online Sinhala Unicode Writer]

* [http://sinhaladic.com/ Sinhala English Dictionary and Sinhala To Hindi Language Translator]

* [http://groups.google.com/group/Sinhala-Unicode Sinhala Unicode Support Group]

{{Sinhala language}}

{{list of writing systems}}