by Prof. K.N.O.Dharmadasa - The IslandJames De Alwis (1823-1878), who should be recognized as the first Sinhala language loyalist in modern Sri Lanka asserted in the Introduction to his English translation of the classical Sinhala grammar of the 13th century, Sidat Sangarava, published in 1852, that "[It is] utterly impossible…to uproot and exterminate the Sinhalese as a language. It may be neglected , its classical authors destroyed, and its books lost; but the language itself will continue in some shape or the other." (p. ccli)
What prompted De Alwis to make this statement? This was a time when everybody that mattered in the island colony was beholden to the "civilizing" influences of the colonial master. After all, he was a "modern" man, an Anglican Christian by faith and a professional, a member of the elitist class himself, who by this time was being recognized as a leading figure among the "natives" and was to be appointed to the Legislative Council as the Sinhalese Representative in 1864. In spite of that, he was feeling uneasy about some of the socio-cultural changes taking place around him. This was a time when drastic changes were occurring in the island society. The more industrious sections of the community were eagerly looking for avenues of socio-economic advancement that were open under Pax Britanica, and various entrepreneurs, particularly from the areas of the "low country" which had been exposed most to the modernizing influences were grabbing the many opportunities provided by the new economic order, the cash crop culture and import export trade, and were becoming the new rich within a few years. The younger generation among the "natives", at the same time, were being educated in English, the language of colonial administration and upward mobility, to become government employees or professionals such as proctors, doctors, surveyors, etc. Or join the government service. From the early days of their presence in the island, the British had been alive to the possibility of consolidating their position in the island society by means of spreading their culture, language and religion in particular. For example, Robert Percival, a British missionary wrote in his An Account of the Island of Ceylon (1803) that "a zealous effort on the part of our government to introduce our learning and religion among the natives is the surest means of improving and consolidating our empire in the island". Such sentiments were echoed in official policy documents such as the Colebrooke-Cameron Report of 1832 which saw "Ceylon" as "the fittest spot in our Eastern Dominions in which to plant the seeds of European civilization." (p.152). In the early 19th century, English was spreading fast, particularly because the schools system, dominated by missionary institutions, was zealously putting this policy into practice. Governor Colin-Campbell reported to the Colonial Office in London in 1844 that "Every day the natives of all classes are assimilating more and more European habits and views, and in some cases becoming more qualified to mix in society with Europeans." At the same time, however, there was another aspect of this fervent pursuit of English education. George Turnour, a British Civil Servant, who published in 1837 an English translation of the national historical chronicle, the Mahavamsa, observed that
more"their education, as regards the acquisition of their native language, was formerly seldom
persevered in beyond the attainment of a grammatical knowledge of Singhalese - the ancient
history of their country, and the mysteries of the religion of their ancestors, rarely engaged their
serious attention. Their principal study was the English language pursued in order that they might
qualify themselves for those official appointments, which were the objects of their ambition." (p.v)
Most interestingly, the peculiar language attitudes of the recent acquirers of the English language did not fail to attract the attention of those European observers. For example, Rev. John Murdoch and James Nicholson, who published in 1868 an extremely valuable work A Classified Catalogue of Printed Tracts and Books in Singhalese, noted that " many who have made some progress in English are unable to write their own language." Worse still, their other observation was that "their mother-tongue has been despised by those who have acquired a smattering of English." (p.v). It was this situation that disturbed James De Alwis. It needs mention that he was not the typical brown Sahib of 19th century Sri Lanka. Unlike others of his class, he had a deep knowledge of Sri Lanka’s history and its classical languages and literatures, which prompted him to raise an alarm about the denigration of the national cultural heritage in which many of his compatriots were engaged. Impressing upon the colonial administration that a knowledge of the native language was a sine qua non for good governance he translated the most authoritative grammar of the Sinhala language ( the Sidat Sangarava) into English in order to help those foreigners to study "the national language." We should note that in his view Sinhala was the national language of the island, and, most interestingly, while being a Christian himself, he saw Buddhism as "the national religion" of the Sinhalese.(p.xviii).
In order to impress upon those would be detractors of the Sinhala language the greatness of its linguistic and literary heritage he prefaced his translation of the Sidat Sangarava with a 286 page introduction where he dealt with in great detail the history of the language and a selection of its classical works in translation. Having gone into a detailed exposition of the literary excellence of the Sinhala classical writings he declared,
"…the Singhalese scholar, equally with the English , finds in the writing of his country’s
poets, the unsurpassed sublimity of a Milton, the flowing gracefulness of a Pope, and
the sparkling wit of a Goldsmith" (p. lxxx)
James De Alwis was addressing both the colonial masters who had a jaundiced view of "native" traditions as well as his own compatriots who having had acquired some knowledge of English were looking down upon their own national traditions. Apart from the beauty of the classical works of Sinhala literature he saw in the language per se features which placed it on par with the better known classical languages of the Indo-Aryan family such as Sanskrit, Pali, Greek and Latin.
He declared in relation to the Sidat Sangarava
Considering its antiquity, and the comprehensiveness of its rules
which present the rudiments of a correct and well defined Oriental
language, bearing close resemblance to Sanskrit, Greek, Pali and Latin,
we obtain indubitable evidence of the early greatness and the civilization of the Singhalese (p. cclxxx)
In his great admiration for the Sinhala language, De Alwis claimed that the history of Sinhala is as old as that of Sanskrit which represents the oldest language form brought down to northern India by the Indo-Aryan tribes who arrived there in about 1500 BCE. Disagreeing with the generally held belief that Sinhala was a "daughter" of Sanskrit, he put forward the view that it was a "sister" of Sanskrit and that the settling down of the Sinhala people in the island of Lanka would have been "coeval with their [ the Indo-Aryan’s] occupation of India" ( p.xii). We should mention here that about eight decades later another Sinhala language loyalist Munidasa Cumaratunga (1887 - 1944) was to accord a high position to the Sinhala language by raising it to the status of a primeval language, without an ancestral affinity to Sanskrit or Pali. Much work has been done subsequently with regard to the history of the Sinhala language and both De Alwis and Cumaratunga have been found wrong with regard to those specific points. Researches by Sri Lankan, as well as foreign experts, have revealed that Sinhala originated as a "Middle Indian dialect" descended from the Old Indic represented by Sanskrit. Pali too is recognized as a Middle Indian dialect representing the speech of the time of the Buddha, which is the 6th century BCE. Language evolution during subsequent centuries in the South Asia has resulted in the formation of the New Indo Aryan languages such as Sinhala, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali Gujarati, Marathi, etc. In spite of the fact that the above mentioned over enthusiastic views of James De Alwis as well as Munidasa Cumaratunga were disproved, it needs be admitted that they were correct in viewing Sinhala as a language which is endowed with some unique features. What then make Sinhala to stand out among the other New Indo Aryan languages of the region? The aim of this paper is to spell out those special features of Sinhala. This perhaps is an opportune time to spell out this fact because language policies are being discussed and the value of the linguistic heritage of Sri Lanka has to be kept in mind when policy decisions are being taken.
In comparison with the other members of the New Indo Aryan group, Sinhala stands out because of its unparalleled literary heritage which enabled it to develop alone as an independent medium much before any of its "sister" languages could do so. Perhaps its isolation in an island helped it to develop on its own, free from the awesome presence of Sanskrit which remained the "classical" literary language cultivated by literati throughout the sub-continent. In ancient and medieval times Sanskrit was the accepted literary medium and, therefore, the spoken dialects which later evolved into Hindi, Bengali Gujarati , Marathi, etc. could not come up as literary languages for a long time. In the case of Sinhala, however, there was no "classical’ literary language impeding its growth as a literary medium. The only classical language Sinhala grew up with at the initial stages was Pali, the language of the Buddhist cannon, introduced with Buddhism in the 3rd century BCE. And, most fortunately, Pali helped Sinhala to grow and develop as a literary medium by providing the initial resources, the vast textual repository of the Buddhist scriptures. The most momentous event that took place with the introduction of Buddhism was the step initiated by the leader of the missionary monks, Venerable Maha Mahinda to "install in Sinhala" the commentaries to the scriptures which he had brought down with the original texts of the Buddhist doctrine. The order of Buddhist monks established by Maha Mahinda Thero were taught the scriptures in Pali and the commentaries in the Sinhala of the day, which was linguistically very close to Pali. It was with that decision of Maha Mahinda Thero in the 3rd century BCE that the literature of the Sinhalese came into being and that step initiated the process whereby the Sinhala language started developing as a literary medium. As pointed out by Rev. Walpola Rahula in his Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, Maha Mahinda Thero was the father of Sinhala literature. In contrast to Sinhala, as pointed out by late Professor D.E.Hettiarachchi, the earliest literary works of Bengali appear in about the 10th century and those of Marathi and Gujarati belong to the 11th century, while those of Hindi appear only after 1300 CE. (see his Introduction to the edition of the 10th cen. Sinhala exegetical work Dhampia Atuva Getapadaya)
Thus , starting in the 3rd century BCE, Sinhala has the oldest record of a literature among the New Indo Aryan languages of South Asia. The Sihalatthakatha , as the commentaries to the Buddhist scriptures were called, once established by Maha Mahinda Thero ,were preserved by the Sri Lankan monks, like the original scriptures, by committing them to memory and continued by the tradition of teacher- pupil succession. About 200 years later, during the reign of Vattagamini Abhaya (89 - 77 BCE) both scriptures and commentaries were committed to writing. Before that, it could well be that only the scriptures were preserved in memory ( due to the veneration in which they were held) while the commentaries were written down, for, the art of writing was there, as evident in the Brahmi inscriptions dating from about the 3rd century BCE. In any case, the preservation of the Buddhist cannon, states Prof. Paranavitana, " which had been lost in India itself at a comparatively early date, is the greatest contribution that the Sinhalese people had made to the intellectual heritage of mankind." ( University History of Ceylon, vol.I, pp. 267-8)
. To return to Sinhala, from the initial step of scriptural commentary, the Atthakatha (commentarial ) literature developed into other areas, particularly the recording of the history of the sasana (Buddhist dispensation). The most important product of that tradition is the Sihalatthakatha Mahavamsa ( now extinct) , which formed the basis of the historical chronicles we have today the Dipavamsa ( 4-5th cen.) and the Mahavamsa (6th cen.) compiled in Pali. We learn from references in historical sources that there were several literary works, mainly Buddhistic that were compiled in Sinhala in those early times, which, unfortunately, are extinct today. Those extinct works are, a Thupavamsa, a Daladavamsa, a Kesadhatuvamsa,a Mahabodhi Vamsa and a Dhatuvamsa all chronicling the histories of objects of Buddhist worship. The art of poetry was also in practice. As we learn from the Indian commentator, Rev. Buddhaghosa, who writing in the 5th century mentions that women who were engaged in reaping in the paddy fields were singing verses in praise of the Buddha . The fact that the Sinhalese of the time were wont to compiling verses is evidenced in some of the early inscriptions. For example the Kossagama Kanda Inscription, the Kirinda Inscription and the Tissamaharama Inscription, all belonging to the period 3rd cen.BCE to 1st cen CE, are written in verse.(S.Paranavitana, "Brahmi Inscriptions in Verse" JRAS CB, vol XXXVI, no.98) . The most eloquent evidence for the art of versification among early Sinhalese is found in the Graffiti of Sigiriya, where we find people of all strata of society, royalty, aristocrats, traders as well as monks and artisans scribbling verses giving expression to their myriad feelings triggered off in the presence of the marvel that was the Sigiriya palace complex.
( S. Paranavitana, Sigiri Graffiti , Being Sinhalese Verses of the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Cencuries ) Another significant aspect of this high level of literacy and literary creativity among the Sinhalese is the fact that women too were on par with men in this accomplishment as is evidenced by the women versifiers of Sigiriya.
As was mentioned earlier, the development of Sinhala as a distinct literary language occurred before all the other languages of the Indo Aryan group in the region. To put it in sociolinguitic terms Sinhala was the first Iindo Aryan language in the region to emerge with a distinct identity. We find it being referred to in that name much before Hindi, Bengali, Gujatati, Marathi etc. were identified as distinct languages by name. Rev. Buddhaghosa, arriving in the island from mainland India. in the 5th century refers to it as a "delightful language" (manoramam bhasam) in the introductory passages of his Pali commentaries. In fact he had arrived in the island at the behest of his teachers who told him ( as narrated in the Mahavamsa) that they had in India only the text of the Dhamma. "The commentaries, " they said " which have been installed in the Sinhala language by the wise Elder Maha Mahinda are still maintained there. If you go thither and translate them into Pali that will be for the welfare of the whole world." Undoubtedly Buddhaghosa Thero and his teachers would have been extremely grateful to the Sinhala monks for the service they had rendered to the Sasana by preserving those commentaries, which were directly derived from the Third Buddhist Council held during Emperor Dharmasoka’s time in the 3rd century BCE. Here I would like to pause for a moment to explain a sociolinguistic fact particularly with reference to Rev. Buddhaghosa identifying Sinhala as a distinct and well-developed language.. Giving a particular name to a speech form is the mechanism by which it is given an individual identity. For example, in recent times the break-up of the state of Yugoslavia witnessed the emergence of several ethnic states such as Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and so on. Most significantly, the mutually intelligible dialects of the former language which was identified since mid nineteenth century as Serbo-Croatian are given different names today as Serbian, Croatian , Bosnian and Bunjevas reflecting the ethnic identities of the people who speak the dialect. In place of one linguistic continuum there are today four distinct "languages." reflecting the national identities of the people concerned. To come back to Sinhala, there is a beautiful passage in the 10th century exegetical work, Dhampia Atuva Getapadaya , which if we use modern terminology reflects the identity of the language, the people and the island in which they were living:
"How do we obtain the term ‘from the Sinhala language’? That is from the fact that the island people are Sinhala. How does the term
‘ the Sinhalas’ come about? King Sinhabahu was named Sinhala because he killed a lion…. Since prince Vijaya was his child he was (also)
named Sinhala. The others because they were his { Vijaya’s ] retinue they (too) were named Sinhala" (Hettiarachchi ed. P.6)
Here the author of the Dhampia Atuva Getapadaya is paraphrasing in Sinhalese what Rev Buddhaghosa had said in Pali. The general view prevalent in the 10th century, about the people, their language and their land is clearly set out in this statement.
There are other special features of Sinhala when compared with the other New Indo Aryan languages of South Asia. As conveyed to me in a personal communication by Prof. W.S.Karunatilleke, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics in the University of Kelaniya,, the 10th century Siyabas Lakara is the oldest work of rhetoric in a New Indo Aryan language and the 13th century Sidat Sangarava is the oldest grammar of a New Indo Arayan language. And the most fascinating aspect of the evolution of Sinhala from early times to the present day is the fact that there is an unbroken line of records, first the inscriptions and then books starting from about the 3rd century to the present day whereby students of the history of the language can trace its development. Sinhala has its own script, again originating from the Indic roots of the Brahmi script and evolving gradually to the alphabet we use in writing Sinhala today..
As all languages do Sinhala in the course of its evolution was influenced by other important languages with which it came into contact, Sanskrit, with a long standing affinity was the major source of influence in ancient and medieval times. The first work of Sinhala rhetoric, the Siyabas Lakara of the 10th century, which fortunately is one of the earliest books extant today, was an adaptation into Sinhala of a Sanskrit work, the Kavyadarsha by Dandin. The other major language to influence Sinhala was Tamil. Scholars have pointed out that the classical grammar, the Sidat Sangarava evinces the influence of the Tamil classical grammar Virasoliyam. We should also note that there is evidence indicating that before the compilation of the Siyabas Lakara there were works of rhetoric in Sinhala . Similarly, before the Sidat Sangarava there have been Sinhala grammars. Those early works are lost to us today. The fact remains, however, that Sinhala language and its literary tradition is the oldest among the New Indo Aryan languages of South Asia.
The aim of writing this essay is to highlight a not so well known fact about Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage. It may be that we in the early 21st century do not have "to make a struggle" in the cause of our language as James De Alwis had to do in the nineteenth century ( Intro. to SS, p. cclxi). But, as was mentioned earlier, these facts about Sinhala , which is a product of the civilization that arose in this island, is best kept in mind in deciding language policies, particularly in this era of globalization, where so much emphasis is laid on "world languages", which of course we have to cultivate as we have to keep pace with the rest of the world. At the same time, however, we need to preserve and cherish our cultural heritage.
