THE SINHALESE LANGUAGE. 



* 



Though the Sinhalese alphabet contains, as above indicated, the 

 Sanskrit vowels ri, ri, Iri, Iri, ai, and au ; yet they are unknown 

 to the language itself, thus exhibiting a difference between it and 

 the Tamil, which has ai and au; and, as the reader is aware, a simi- 

 larity to the Prakrit dialects which reject all the above vowels. The 

 changes, too, which Prakrits effect in the letters of words which are 

 taken from the Sanskrit arc exactly the same in the Sinhalese, e. g. 



i. The Sanskrit ri is changed into a, i, «,* and e in the Sin- 

 halese; and in this respect the latter follows the Prakrit, of which 

 we shall quote the Pali. 



Sanskrit. 



Pali. 



Sinhalese, 





dridha 



dalha 



dala 



' coarse ' 



krifa 



ka/a 



kala 



' made ' 



hrida 



hada 



hada 



' heart ' 



mrita 



mata 



mala 



'dead* 



rishi 



isi 



isi 



1 a saint ' 



ridhi 



iddhi 



idu 



t 



krimi 



kimi 



kimi 



* worm ? 



srigala 



sigala 



sival 



* jackal ' 



riju 



uju 



udu 



* direct * 



mndu 



mudu 



mudu 



4 soft ' 



vriksha 



rukkha 



ruk 



1 tree * 



griha 



geha 



ge 



4 house.' 



ii. The use of Iri being not very different from that of ri, even 

 in the Sanskrit, I shall pass on to ai, which becomes i or e; thus. 



Sanskrit. 



Pali. 



Sinhalese. 





aishvarya 



issariya 



isuru 



i prosperity ' 



Airavana 



Eravana 



Eravana 



* a name ' 



Kailasha 



Kelasa 



Keles 



' a name ' 



taila 



tela 



tel 



* oil' 



vaira 



vera 



vera 



* hatred.' 



* See Cbwell's Prakrit Prakasa, p. xviii. 



f A word signifying ' power to go through the air.' 



