A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE SEMANTIC DIFFERENCES OF NEGATED NOUNS FROM TAMIL TO SINHALA (BASED ON THE DENIYAYA AREA OF MATARA DISTRICT)

Abstract

This study investigates the semantic variations of Tamil-origin loanwords (specifically nouns) in the Sinhala and Tamil languages. While Tamil has historically contributed a significant number of lexical items to Sinhala, the meanings of these borrowed terms have not remained static. Using a comparative linguistic approach, the research analyzes a selected corpus of Tamil loanwords in both languages, identifying shifts such as semantic narrowing, broadening, and change. Data was collected from bilingual dictionaries, literary texts, and spoken language corpora, and analyzed qualitatively to determine patterns of semantic divergence. The findings reveal that many loanwords have undergone notable shifts in meaning within Sinhala, influenced by sociolinguistic and cultural factors. Aim of the research was study semantically differences of Tamil loanwords of Sinhala language. This research contributes to the broader understanding of language contact phenomena and the dynamics of meaning evolution in multilingual contexts. This research will be conducted in the Southern province, Deniyaya of Matara district. The problem of this research is Are there any semantics differences of the loanwords (nouns) which taken from Tamil language to Sinhala language.