THE SINHALESE LANGUEGE. 



33 



bear to the Sinhalese is not direct, that they are derived from the 

 Sanskrit, sometimes from the same word from which the Sinhalese 

 is derived, and sometimes from another Sanskrit word of the same 

 signification, e. g. anubavitta ; and that of the remaining 29 words 

 Dot a single one, so far as I can speak on the subject, has any rela- 

 tion to the Sinhalese, whilst every one of the 64 Sinhalese words 

 with the exception of e, (epa and vap) is directly derived from the 

 Pali. So that the result is ' that the Sinhalese, as it is spoken at 

 the present day, and still more strickingly as it exists as a written, 

 language' in the uncorrupted tablets of rocks in this island, presents 

 * unequivocal proof of its independence of the Dravidian, and of its 

 affinity with Sanskrit dialects. 



Lastly, on a careful comparison of the old Sinhalese (which is 

 usually denominated the Elu) with the Pali and the Tamil, nearly 

 every word of the first is found to be derived from the Pali, and 

 not the Dravidian. Let us take, for instance, the first thirty words 

 in the alphabetical Index of the Revd. C. Alwis* version of the 

 Namavaliya, avoiding proper names and different forms of the 

 same words, and compare them with the Pali and Tamil words of 

 the same significations, 



Tamil. 

 kan 

 min 



me£-kafri 



iAkkara 

 Elattu 



{ankusa 

 turatti 



pavam 



kovam 



mudivu 



alam 



perumati 



abishekam 





Pali 



Sinhalese. 



Eye 



akkha 



ak 



Lightning 



asani 



akana 



Canopy 



akasa vitana 



akasana 



Letter 



akkhara 



akura 



Goad 



ankusa 



akussa 



Demerit 



akusala 



akusala 



Anger 



akkosa 



akos 



End 



agga 



aga 



Depth 



agadha 



agada 



Value 



aggha 



agaya 



Unction 



angaraga 



agara 



