From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sri Lankan English (SLE) is the English language as spoken in Sri Lanka.

The earliest English speakers in present-day Sri Lanka date back to the days of the British Empire, the era of Royal Navy dominance, and the British colonial presence in South Asia.

An SLE consultant for the Oxford English Dictionary and author of Knox's Words notes that British readers first encountered loan words from Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) in a book published in 1681 entitled An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies. Words from that book became used internationally: the best known is Buddha but others include betel leaf, bo tree, puja, rattan, rillow, Vedda, and wanderoo.

SLE became more indigenous in the mid-19th century. In addition to the usual terms for flora and fauna, new idioms, referred to as Ceylonisms, emerged.

Some years after independence in 1948, English ceased being the only official language of Sri Lanka, but it remained in use across the island's ethnic groups. It evolved to incorporate more Sinhalese vocabulary and grammatical conventions such as the use of "no?" as a tag question at the end of a sentence.

In spite of English's long history in Sri Lanka, 21st century Sri Lankans academicians debate about the legitimacy of SLE as a separate dialect.

A significant difference between British English and Sri Lankan English usage is its use of particular tenses. Many educated Sri Lankans would use past perfect tense to talk about things that happened at a fixed time in the recent past instead of past simple. Many Sri Lankans still use words such as frock (to scold) and the question form 'to whom' which are not familiar to modern British English speakers. Another example of typical Sri Lankan English is posing questions by changing the intonation, e.g. "you are hungry?"

Anaconda and serendipity are words with Sri Lanka connections, though they are not loan words. Another distinctive feature of Sri Lankan English is the uniqueness of its pronunciation. Most of the people belonging to the middle class and the upper middle class still speak with British RP as their model as a result of the colonial influences while there is an up coming group of ENGLISH USERS for whom English is the second language. They invented Sri Lankan English with the influence of their mother tongue. However there are many educated people who still believe that Sri Lankans should speak standard British English.

Speakers of Sri Lankan English are often incapable of producing certain sounds such as /ou/, /ei/ and the two different pronunciations of the sound /th/ and use the same sound for both /v/ and /w/ as they do not bite their lower lip for /v/ or round their lips for /w/.

There are certain nouns added to English by Sri Lankans and therefore an Englishman coming to Sri Lanka for the first time would not know what Shorteats (snacks) and string hoppers (a typical Sri Lankan food) mean. If you read a daily newspaper, you may find a number of typical Sri Lankan Usages, which are not accepted in standard British English:

“... lots of equipments..."

      information system
      education minister

• A brief history of Sri Lankan English from the Oxford English Dictionary website
• An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies, from Project Gutenberg
• A review of Knox's Words, from the Sri Lankan newspaper Sunday Observer
• Another review of Knox's Words, from a fellow author's personal website
• Our British heritage, another Sunday Observer article

v • d • e Dialects of English
Europe	British · East Anglian · English English · Estuary · Guernsey English · Hiberno-English (Ireland) · Highland · Manx · Mid Ulster · Midlands · Northern · Scottish · Welsh · West Country dialects
North America	United States · African American Vernacular · Appalachian · Baltimorese · Boston · Buffalonian · California · Chicano · Cajun · Maine · Maine-New Hampshire · New Jersey · New York City · North American · North Central American · Inland Northern American · Pacific Northwest · Pennsylvania Dutch English · Philadelphia · Pittsburgh · Southern American · Utah · Yat · Yooper · Canadian · West/Central Canadian · Maritimer · Newfoundland · Quebec
West Indies	Bermudian · Bahamian · Caribbean · Jamaican
Oceania	Australian · New Zealand · Australian Aboriginal · Hawaiian Pidgin
Asia	Burmese · Hong Kong · Indian · Malaysian · Philippine · Singlish / Manglish · Sri Lankan
Africa	Liberian · Malawian · South African
Miscellaneous	Basic · Commonwealth · International · Mid-Atlantic · Plain · Simplified · Special · Standard