Future Tense in Spoken Tamil and Spoken Sinhalese: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Syntax differs from language to language. The second language learners find it hard to understand the syntax of the language they learn when it differs from the syntax of their mother tongue. Thus the similarities and differences of Tamil and Sinhalese languages in the future tense are being analysed through this study. One of the main similarities found out through this comparative study is that both Tamil and Sinhalese languages have a similar subdivision in Future tense: they are the „will‟ future, future perfect and future Continuous. On the other hand in Tamil, particles are being used to differentiate the future tense, where as verb suffixes and affixes are used in Sinhalese and further the present form is often used to refer to Future tense in Sinhalese. In Tamil, the Future verbs will take various forms as per to Case, Gender, Number and person. Nevertheless in Sinhalese a common verb form is used irrespective of the case, gender and number. The knowledge in the future function of these languages will give a clear idea to the learners and teachers of these languages and it will ease the teaching and learning process of these languages. The research area is limited to the tenses which are being used in the spoken context of the Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhalese. The data for this study were obtained from books, articles, websites, and discussions.