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Sinhala

Also known as Singhalese language, Helabasa, Sinhalese language, Sinhalese, Sinhala language

Indo-Aryan language native to Sri Lanka

AI overview

Sinhala is a language spoken by the majority of people in Sri Lanka, belonging to the Indo-Aryan language family that also includes languages like Hindi and Bengali. It matters because it is the primary language of Sri Lanka's largest ethnic group and serves as an official language of the country.

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Wikidata facts

Image: සිංහල in Noto Serif Sinhala Black.svg

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Wikimedia language code: si
native label: සිංහල
number of speakers, writers, or signers: 15300000
Commons category: Sinhala language
exact match: publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/SIN
P10369: penis
P13311: Central Europe

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Article

Sinhala (/ˈsɪnhələ, ˈsɪŋələ/ SIN-hə-lə, SING-ə-lə; Sinhala: සිංහල, siṁhala, [ˈsiŋɦələ]), sometimes called Sinhalese (/ˌsɪn(h)əˈliːz, ˌsɪŋ(ɡ)əˈliːz/ SIN-(h)ə-LEEZ, SING-(g)ə-LEEZ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first language of about 2 million other Sri Lankans, as of 2001. It is written in the Sinhalese script.

The language has two main varieties, written and spoken, and is a notable example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia.