248 jouenal, r.a.s. ceylon). [Vol. II., Paet II. 



11. 33<£)©<2£p &&o)a5Q). — Kavmini pahana. 

 « Rhymed in Elu." (1840.*) 



An inquiry into the derivation of the words and 

 8oQQ(3 will also furnish us with further proof in support of 

 the position advanced by me.f 



The term &@ {Elu) is derived from &o&q (Sinhala), which 

 mutated into Ssdq, Bq, ©esO, and ©ead, produce 

 But scholars are by no means agreed upon this definition. 

 According to some it may be from i) and (3^D (£(3^e)), J 



* Since the above extracts are nearly every one of them from the 

 Sinhalese poets, and lest the reader may therefore be inclined to the 

 supposition that Elu is the designation for a so-called li poetical dialect," 

 the following prose selection from the introduction to the Pansiya-panas 

 Jdtaka may not be out of place : — 



^gSaesD©^ Q discos sScaie) ©33iS<5qe)3 ££>©e)etfgc8§ etosa 



"It is proper that good people, having given their ears and bent their 

 minds, should hear the Elu version of ' The History of Lives,' composed 

 without departing from the method of the writer of the Atuwdwas." 



f The following passage is from the Pradipikdva : ca<£5 

 eas^eS SBoasceoa ess #3© ss^dcs-of ? 



" At the place where mention is made of the 4 Sihala language,' 

 what can Sinhala language mean?" 



The writer, after explaining why the Sinhalese were called Sinhala and 

 this Island was called Sinhaladwipa, proceeds to answer the inquiry thus : — 



cai)©d ®£)©3d£) ds3©c&f ©©©S^®c8S$ 2Sc3«)(3i©S)^, £>©s>8^ 

 ©© 8cS3(3 ©qcsacodg d3D©C3f &o&Q C5So)q®>o3^f ^Sca^ (^©SJaJ; ®g 



*£f©C5f 033^53 8oCD(3 a03©3£0@ ©©. 



" As people who are natives (of a place) speak in (their) native 

 tongue, so likewise the people of this Sinhala country use the Sinhala 

 speech. Their language is called the Sinhala language" 



The above furnishes us with almost conclusive proof against the 

 position that the Elu, but not the Sinhalese, was the ancient language 

 of the Ceylonese. For, if according to Gurujugomi, the writer of the 

 11 Pradipikawa," both Wijayo's followers and their language were called 

 Sinhala from the period of their landing in Ceylon, it is impossible to 

 maintain that Elu considered as a dialect different from Sinhala was 

 " the ancient language of the Sinhalese." 



% ^5®©2S5©(3^ ssB ©CD(3^©sD8^3. — Kavyamuktdhdre. 



" Have I in Heladiv (Lanka's) language with pleasure finished my 

 song?" 



