Sinhala

Sinhala is the language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka. It is also spoken by minority groups in neighboring countries, including Mauritius, India, and Singapore. Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language, belonging to the same family as Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. It is written in the Sinhala script, which is derived from the ancient Brahmi script. The earliest known inscriptions in Sinhala date back to the 3rd century BCE. The Sinhalese people have a rich literary tradition, and Sinhala has been used as a literary language for over 2,000 years. Notable Sinhala literary works include the Mahavamsa, a historical epic written in the 5th century CE, and the Thirukkural, a classic work of Tamil literature. Sinhala is the official language of Sri Lanka, and is also one of the 23 official languages of India. It is estimated that there are around 21 million Sinhala speakers in the world.