Impact Of Borrowings From Sinhala On Sri Lankan English Within The Religious Domain

Abstract

Sinhala and Tamil can be considered the two main widely spoken native languages in Sri Lanka. Among these two main native languages, Sinhala has a great impact on the variety of English spoken in Sri Lanka which is known as Sri Lankan English. Sri Lankan English contains a considerable amount of borrowings taken from Sinhala. This research paper aims at finding the influence of native languages in Sri Lanka on the variety of Sri Lankan English. This research paper attempts to provide insights on how Sinhala, the language of the majority in Sri Lanka has influenced Sri Lankan English in terms of borrowings. These borrowings are noticeable in the domains like religion and culture. The objective of this research paper is to show the influence of Sinhala borrowings to Sri Lankan English within the religious domain by analyzing data from literary Sinhala. In this research study, fifteen participants whose first language was Sinhala were asked to write a paragraph on “Vesak festival” and the borrowings they used in writing were analyzed in order to show the influence of Sinhala on Sri Lankan English. The sample of the research study are students who are doing Advanced Level Examination in Sri Lankan government schools.