Sinhala

English

Alternative forms

• Cinghal (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Sinhalese සිංහල (siṁhala), itself borrowed from Sanskrit सिंहल (siṃhala, literally “lionlike”), from सिंह (siṃhá, “lion”) +‎ -ल (-la), recorded as the name of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from about the 10th to 12th century, but presumably older, as it is also the source of the name Ceylon in western geographic tradition.

The name is sometimes glossed as "abode of lions", referring to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island ( The Asiatic Journal 20 (1836), p. 30). Doublet of Ceylon and Elu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪnhələ/, /sɪnˈhɑːlə/
• Hyphenation: Sin‧ha‧la
• Rhymes: -ɑːlə

Noun

Sinhala (uncountable)

1. The indigenous language of the majority people of Sri Lanka.

Synonyms

• Sinhalese, Singhalese

Translations

language — see Sinhalese

Proper noun

Sinhala

1. (obsolete) The island of Sri Lanka.
2. (Mahabharata) The kingdom in the island of Sri Lanka mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Further reading

• ISO 639-1 code si, ISO 639-3 code sin (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Sinhala, sin (behind paywall)
• Wiktionary’s coverage of Sinhalese terms

Anagrams

• Alishan, Alshain