English in Asia and the Southern HemisphereProf. R. HickeyWS 2015/16

Sri Lanka

Marina Ewerlein and Frederike Müller

Course of study: LA-BA

Type of credit:TN

Module: I

English in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere Prof. R. HickeyWS 2015/16

Sri Lanka in General

Marina Ewerlein

Course of study: LA-BA

Type of credit:TN

Module: I

Sri Lanka in General

Source: Worldaltas/ Government of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka in General

Main facts:

- Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

- 65,610 km²

- Capital: Sri Jayewardenepura

- Commercial Capital: Colombo

Source: Worldaltas/ Government of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka in General

Main facts:

- population: 20.3 million( last counted in 2011)

Source: Government of Sri Lanka/ SVE

Sri Lanka in General

Main facts:

- Religion Buddhism 70.19%Hinduism 12.61%Christianity 7.45%Islam 9.71%

- EthnicitySihalese, 74.9%;Tamil, 15.4%;Muslim 9.2%;others 0.5% (2012 est)

Source: Government of Sri Lanka/ SVE

Sri Lanka in General

Source: Worldatlas

History:543 BC: Sinhalese people from northern India

250 BC: Buddhism

12th century: Sri Lanka most powerful

16th century: Portugese

17th century: Dutch

1796: British

1802: Crown Colony

1948: Independence

1972: name change

1983: civil war26th December 2004: Tsunami

Sri Lanka: Tsunami 2004

Source: Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka

- 36,603 people perished in the months following the tsunami

- Another 800,000 people directly affected

- 90,000 buildings were destroyed.

Sri Lanka in General

Conclusion:

- Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean

- many different groups

- first settlement in 543 BC

English in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere Prof. R. HickeyWS 2015/16

Sri Lanka: Language

Frederike Müller

Course of study: LA-BA

Type of credit:TN

Module: I

Sri Lanka: Language

Status and function of English in Sri Lanka

After independence from Britain in 1948: English was de

facto language until 1956 → Sinhala: sole official

language

1987: Constitution of Sri Lanka states English as “link

language” (official languages: Tamil and Sinhala) →

English in fact more than this in government, many

areas of officialdom, media, advertisement and

education system

Sri Lanka: Language

Administration: parity for English in cases where the

official language is not the language of a speaker (e.g.

for speakers of Sinhala in an Tamil area)

Judiciary: all laws and legislation published in Sinhala

and Tamil PLUS a translation of English

→ most disparity in Sri Lanka´s courts: language used

in Sri Lanka´s highest court is English

Sri Lanka: Language

Education:

- Due to law in 1956: English as a medium of instruction

changed to Sinhala

- 1980s: International Schools → so popular that there

are now even English-medium pre- schools for

children under three years

- 1990s: government sponsored interventions to

emphasize English from grade 1-13

- lack of competent English teachers, urban-rural

disparities

Sri Lanka: Language

Interpersonal Communication:

- increase in the use of English, especially in the homes

of young people → result of the

reintroduction of English in schools

- English as language of e-mail and text-messaging

- English as association with prestige

→ examples explains the common assumption that

English is an official language

Sri Lanka: Language

- many complexities and sub-variaties of Sri Lankan English

- significant class distinctions: stereotype “Colombo” family: English as first

language

- the further you travel from Colombo, the greater is the influence of Sinhala

and Tamil on the English people speak

- many Sinhala and Tamil words entered SLE

- Sinhalas influence on English, as it was the sole official language → Singlish

Sri Lanka: Language

Sri Lankan English, Linguistic aspectsSome phonological features:

→ the replacement of diphthongs [eɪ] and [aʊ] in British English

with the long vowels [e ] and [o ]

→ The replacement of interdental fricatives [ð] [θ] with dental plosives [d̪] [t̪]

→ The replacement of the labiovelar approximant [w] and [v] with the

labiodental approximant [ʋ]

→ Confusing [o] and [ɔ] hall/hole

→ Confusing [f] and [p] fan/pan

→ Use of [s] in place of [z] zoo, zip

Sri Lanka: Language

Some syntactic features:

Examples of ellipsis: 1) “I just came home. [There is] Not enough time to

shower.”

2) “Most of the people have migrated. [There is] Just a

handful here.”

Topicalization: 3) “All beautiful arranged it was.”

4) “Very busy they are.”

5) “A really nice person she is.”

Sri Lanka: Language

Some syntactic features:

Verb deletion in question: 6) “From where to get the money?”

Use of tags: 7) “They used to have a black car, isn´t it?”

8) “Raining no, how to come?”

Use of [s] in place of [z]: 9) “Let´s go to the zoo.”

Sri Lanka: Language

The associative plural marked by and them: „Sunil and them didn’t come.“

Certain uncountable nouns are pluralised: lands

The definite article is frequently dropped: gone to office, going to temple

The indefinite article is dropped: couple of times, lot of problems, little more rice

Sri Lanka: Language

Conclusion:

- confusion whether English is an official language or not

- notable increase of the use of English especially for young people

- Sinhalese and Tamil influence in English in Phonology and Syntax

Literatur

Gunesekera, Manique (ed). 2005. “The Postcolonial Identity of Sri Lankan

English.” Maharagama: Tharanjee Prints.

Mendis, Dushyanthi /Rambukwella, Harshana. 2010. “Sri Lankan Englishes.” In: Andy Kirkpatrick (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. New York: Routledge, 181- 196

Meyler, Michael. 2004. “Sri Lankan English”. In: Bernd Kortmann (ed.). A handbook of varieties of English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 540 – 547

References in the internet

Government of Sri Lanka: https://www.gov.lk/index.php

SVE: Studying Varieties of English: https://www.uni-due.de/SVE/index.html

Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka: http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/HELGESTJ/

Wordaltas: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/lk.htm

Thank you for your attention!