Phonology of the Sinhalese Inscriptions up to the End of the Tenth Century A.D.

Extract

Sinhalese is a member of the Indo-Aryan family of languages and “is derived from a form of speech of which our earliest document is the Rgveda” [TND., Introduction, p. xii]. Concerning its original home in Aryan India opinion is divided. The ancient tradition regarding the Aryan immigration into Ceylon is narrated in the old Pali Chronicles, Dīpavaṁsa, ix, 1 sq., and Mahāvaṁsa, vi, 1 sq. It is not necessary to discuss all its details here. Different interpretations of this legend have been advanced by various scholars. The main point of controversy is the identification and location of Lāḷa, the homeland of Vijaya. H. W. Codrington [“A Short History of Ceylon ”, pp. 6 sq.], W. Geiger [SghD., vol. 1, pt. 1, pp. xvii–xviii; also SghG., pp. vii–xi, pp. 1–3], and S. K. Chatterji [ODBLang., p. 15, pp. 72, 73 fn.], who identify Lāḷa with Lāṭa (Gujarat), maintain that the first Aryan colonists under the leadership of Vijaya came from Western India. On the contrary, E. Müller [Aic, pp. 23, 24; also IA., xi, p. 198], Rev. R. Siddhartha [“ The Indian Languages and their Relation with the Sinhalese Language“ in JRAS. (Ceylon Branch), xxxiii, No. 88, 1935, pp. 123 sq.], and M. Shahidullah [“The First Aryan Colonization of Ceylon” in IHQ., ix, 1933, pp. 742 sq.[, identifying Lāḷa with Rāḍha (West Bengal), contend that they came from Eastern India. Various arguments and explanations are propounded by them in support of their individual theories, and they all admit some measure of historical truth underlying the tradition.