Sinhala is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese people

Sinhalese people

The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...

, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, numbering about 15 million. Sinhala is also spoken by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 3 million. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan

Indo-Aryan languages

The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...

 branch of the Indo-European languages

Indo-European languages

The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...

. Sinhala is the official and national language of Sri Lanka.

Over the centuries, many languages have acted as donor languages for Sinhala. These include:
Pali

Páli

- External links :* *...

, Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

, Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 from the South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

n region; Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

, Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

.
from Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

These are examples of Sinhalese words of English origin

Word	සිංහල	Meaning	Original form
akkaraya	අක්කරය	Acre	Acre
atōrni		ඇටෝනි | Attorney
administrāsi-kara		Administraor	Administrator
ayis	අයිස්	Ice	Ice
ararup		Arrowroot	Arrowroot
bagaasi		Baggage	Baggage
batar	බටර්	Butter	Butter
besama	බේසම	Basin	Basin
bila	බිල	Bill	Bill
bildima	බිල්ඩිම	Building	Building
birōva		Bureau	Bureau
bōlaya	බෝලය	Ball	Ball
bōTTuva	‍බෝට්ටුව	Boat	Boat
cäk		Cheque	Cheque
chīs	චීස්	Cheese	Cheese
departamentuva	දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව	Department	Department
distrikkaya	දිස්ත්‍රිත්තය	District	District
dīsiya	දීසිය	Dish	Dish
dostara	දොස්තර	Doctor	Doctor
dusima	දුසිම	Dozen	Dozen
enjima	ඇන්ජිම	Engine	Engine
gavuma	ගව්ම	Dress	Gown
gääs	ගෑස්	Gas	Gas
gēTTuva	‍ගේට්ටුව	Gate	Gate
golōva		Globe	Globe
govärnamentuva		Government	Government
gornamentuva		Government	Government
injinēru	ඉන්ජිනේරැ	Engineer	Engineer
ingrīsi	ඉංග්‍රීසි	English	English
jändi		Dandy	Dandy
joli	ජොලි	Fun	Jolly
jubiliya	ජුබිලිය	Jubilee	Jubilee
kavicciya	කවිච්චිය	Couch	Couch
kaskuruppuva		Corkscrew	Corkscrew
kētalaya	කේතලය	Kettle	Kettle
komentuva		Comment	Comment
komisama	කොමිසම	Commission	Commission
kompāsuva	කොම්පිසුව	Compass	Compass
kompäniya	කොම්පැනිය	Company	Company
kondēsiya		condition	condition
kopiya	කොපිය	Copy	Copy
kōcciya	කෝච්චිය	Train	Coach
kōpi	කෝපි	Coffee	Coffee
lagaasi		Luggage	luggage
läyistuva	ලැයිස්තුව	List	List
listuva		List	List
loriya	ලොරිය	Lorry	Lorry
mäshima	මැෂිම	Machine	Machine
mīTima	මීටිම	Meeting	Meeting
nōTTuva	නෝට්ටුව	Note	Note
opīsiya	ඔපීසිය	Office	Office
panela		Panel	Panel
pansaya	පැන්සය	Penny	Penny
parliamentuva	පාර්ලිමේන්තුව	Parliament	Parliament
pavuma	පව්ම	Pound	Pound
pänsala	පැන්සල	Pencil	Pencil
pääna	පෑන	Pen	Pen
pänal	පැනල්	Flannel	Flannel
petsama	පෙත්සම	Petition	Petition
pōniyā	පෝනයා	Pony	Pony
pudima	පුඩිම	Pudding	Pudding
regulāsiya	ප	Regulation	Regulation
talentaya		Talent	Talent
täligrām	ටෙලිග්රැම්	Telegram	Telegram
tambalēruva		Tumbler	Tumbler
trisuriya		Treasury	Treasury
tresuriya	‍	Treasury	Treasury
varentuva	වරෙන්තුව	Warrant	Warrant
yāraya	යාරය	Yard (measurement)	Yard (measurement)

See also

• Sinhala language
• Dutch loanwords in Sinhala
• Portuguese loanwords in Sinhala
• Tamil loanwords in Sinhala