Sinhala is one of the official languages of Sri Lanka and the mother tongue of over 70% of the population. Outside Sri Lanka it is used among immigrant populations in the U.K., North America, Australia and some European and Middle Eastern countries. As for the genetic relation, it belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Although the earliest surviving literature in Sinhala dates from the 8th century A.D. its written tradition has traced a longer path of more than 2000 years. Among the major topics covered in this volume are the writing system, phonology, morphology, grammatical constructions and discourse and pragmatic aspects of Sinhala. Written in a clear and lucid style, the book presents a rich sampling of the data and serves a useful typological reference. Therefore this is required reading for not only linguists and Sinhala specialists but also to anyone interested in language, thought, and culture.

This book explores the development of Sinhala stylistic drama from its earliest manifestations to the post-independence era. Bulathsinghala examines the impact of indigenous and imported folk theatrical forms on the work of the most significant postcolonial stylistic dramatists and on key plays that they produced. In the process, the book explores a number of myths and misunderstandings regarding Sri Lanka’s folk heritage and seeks to establish more reliable information on the principal indigenous Sri Lankan folk dramatic forms and their characteristics. At the same time, by drawing connections between folk drama and the post-independence stylistic theatrical movement, the author demonstrates the essential role of the former in Sinhala culture prior to the advent of Western and other influences and shows how both continue to inflect Sri Lankan drama today. This book will help to open the field of South Asian drama studies to an audience consisting not only of scholars and students but also of general readers who are interested in the fields of drama and theatre and Asian studies.

Learn Sinhala with our simple to use phrasebook. It is a handy and comprehensive reference to cultural immersion while exploring new geographies. Impress your local business contacts or friends with confidence. Categories include Business, Shopping, Restaurant, Marketing, Careers, Food, Useful Phrases, Numbers, Time, and many more.

This companion presents a critical collection of Sinhala resistance literature from Sri Lanka. It includes translated short stories and excerpts from Sinhala novels, written after the civil war in the country. Featuring national award-winning writers, the selected texts share a common theme of resistance as the writers write against an exclusivist nationalism that was propagated through mass media and platforms of party politics in Sri Lanka during the war. The volume addresses crucial issues such as the fate of civilians in war, the role of religion in Sri Lankan polity, media censorship, the experience of women in war, as well as the current education system and youth problems in present day Sri Lanka. It highlights an alternate discourse that runs among the ethnic Sinhala group and contributes to the overall movement towards peace and reconciliation among the different ethnic communities in Sri Lanka. A unique addition to the growing oeuvre of translated Sinhala literature, the companion will be indispensable to students, scholars, and researchers of ethnic studies, war and peace studies, peace and conflict studies, literature, cultural studies, political sociology, and South Asian studies, particularly those interested in Sri Lankan literature.

Now included at the end of the book is a link for a web-based program, PDFs and MP3 sound files for each chapter. Over 300 pages ... Developed by I Corps Foreign Language Training Center Fort Lewis, WA For the Special Operations Forces Language Office United States Special Operations Command LANGUAGE TRAINING The ability to speak a foreign language is a core unconventional warfare skill and is being incorporated throughout all phases of the qualification course. The students will receive their language assignment after the selection phase where they will receive a language starter kit that allows them to begin language training while waiting to return to Fort Bragg for Phase II. The 3rd Bn, 1st SWTG (A) is responsible for all language training at the USAJFKSWCS. The Special Operations Language Training (SOLT) is primarily a performance-oriented language course. Students are trained in one of ten core languages with enduring regional application and must show proficiency in speaking, listening and reading. A student receives language training throughout the Pipeline. In Phase IV, students attend an 8 or 14 week language blitz depending upon the language they are slotted in. The general purpose of the course is to provide each student with the ability to communicate in a foreign language. For successful completion of the course, the student must achieve at least a 1/1/1 or higher on the Defense Language Proficiency Test in two of the three graded areas; speaking, listening and reading. Table of Contents Introduction Introduction Lesson 1 People and Geography Lesson 2 Living and Working Lesson 3 Numbers, Dates, and Time Lesson 4 Daily Activities Lesson 5 Meeting the Family Lesson 6 Around Town Lesson 7 Shopping Lesson 8 Eating Out Lesson 9 Customs, and Courtesies in the Home Lesson 10 Around the House Lesson 11 Weather and Climate Lesson 12 Personal Appearance Lesson 13 Transportation Lesson 14 Travel Lesson 15 At School Lesson 16 Recreation and Leisure Lesson 17 Health and the Human Body Lesson 18 Political and International Topics in the News Lesson 19 The Military Lesson 20 Holidays and Traditions