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Sinhalese vs Tamil


Tamil vs Sinhalese


Countries

Countries
Sri Lanka   
Malaysia, Mauritius, Puducherry, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
6   
9

National Language
Sri Lanka   
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu   

Second Language
Sri Lanka   
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, kerala, Puducherry   

Speaking Continents
Asia   
Asia   

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries   
Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles   

Regulated By
Hela Havula (හෙළ හවුල)   
Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur Tamil University   

Interesting Facts
  • In Sinhalese language, there are many loanwords from Dravidian languages mainly Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch and English.
  • Sinhalese language has it own script/ writing system.
  
  • Tamil is the oldest language in the world. Tamil was spoken in South India more than 5000 years ago.
  • The first legally recognized Classical Language of India is Tamil.
    •   

Similar To
Maldivian Language   
Malayalam   

Derived From
Sanskrit Language   
Not Available   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Sinhalese-Alphabets.jpg#200   
Tamil-Alphabets.jpg#200   

Alphabets
54   
33
247   
99+

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
18   
15
12   
9

How Many Consonants
36   
26
18   
8

Scripts
Sinhala alphabet   
Tamil   

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
2   
1
3   
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks   
11
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
හලෝ (halō)   
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)   

Thank You
ඔබට ස්තුතියි (obaṭa stutiyi)   
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)   

How Are You?
ඔබ කොහොමද (oba kohomada)   
நீங்கள் எப்படி இருக்கிறீர்கள்? (Nīṅkaḷ eppaṭi irukkiṟīrkaḷ?)   

Good Night
සුභ රාත්රියක් (subha rātriyak)   
நல்ல இரவு (Good night) / irravu vanakkam (Good night)   

Good Evening
සුබ සැන්දෑවක් (suba sændǣvak)   
நல்ல மாலை (Nalla mālai)/ மாலை (irravu vanakkam)   

Good Afternoon
සුභ සන්ධ්යාවක් (subha sandhyāvak)   
பிற்பகல் வணக்கம் (perpagal vanakkam)   

Good Morning
සුභ උදෑසනක් (subha udǣsanak)   
காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai Vanakkam)   

Please
කරුණාකර (karuṇākara)   
தயவு (Tayavu)   

Sorry
සමාවන්න (samāvanna)   
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)   

Bye
බායි (bāyi)   
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)   

I Love You
මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි (mama oyāṭa ādareyi)   
நான் உன்னை காதலிக்கிறேன் (Naan Unnai Kadalikiren)   

Excuse Me
මට සමාවෙන්න (maṭa samāvenna)   
என்னை மன்னியுங்கள் (Eṉṉai maṉṉiyuṅkaḷ)   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Vedda   
Kongu   

Where They Speak
Sri Lanka   
Kongu   

Dialect 2
Not Available   
Madurai Tamil   

Where They Speak
Not Available   
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu   

Dialect 3
Not Available   
Tirunelveli Tamil   

Where They Speak
Not Available   
South Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli   

Total No. Of Dialects
1   
1
10   
10

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
16.00 million   
99+
78.00 million   
21

Speaking Population
0.25 %   
99+
1.06 %   
19

Native Speakers
16.00 million   
39
70.00 million   
15

Second Language Speakers
2.00 million   
34
8.00 million   
24

Native Name
සිංහල (sĩhala)   
தமிழ்   

Alternative Names
Cingalese, Singhala, Singhalese, Sinhala   
Damulian, Tamal, Tamalsan, Tambul, Tamili   

French Name
singhalais   
tamoul   

German Name
Singhalesisch   
Tamil   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]   

Ethnicity
Sinhalese people   
Tamil people or Tamilans   

History

Origin
3   
300 BC   

Language Family
Indo-European Family   
Dravidian Family   

Subgroup
Indo-Iranian   
Not Available   

Branch
Indic   
Not Available   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Sinhalese Prakrit   
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil   

Standard Forms
Modern Sinhalese   
Modern Tamil   

Language Position
70   
99+
18   
16

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Signed Tamil   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
si   
ta   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sin   
tam   

ISO 639 2/B
sin   
tam   

ISO 639 3
sin   
tam   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
tam   

Glottocode
sinh1246   
tami1289, oldt1248   

Linguasphere
No data available   
tami1289   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb   
Subject-Object-Verb   

Language Morphological Typology
Fusional   
Not Available   

Countries >>
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Sinhalese and Tamil Language History

Comparison of Sinhalese vs Tamil language history gives us differences between origin of Sinhalese and Tamil language. History of Sinhalese language states that this language originated in 3 whereas history of Tamil language states that this language originated in 300 BC. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Sinhalese and Tamil Language History.

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Sinhalese and Tamil Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Sinhalese and Tamil greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Sinhalese and Tamil language. Sinhalese word for "Hello" is හලෝ (halō) or Tamil word for "Thank You" is நன்றி (Naṉṟi). Find more of such common Sinhalese Greetings and Tamil Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Sinhalese vs Tamil Difficulty

The Sinhalese vs Tamil difficulty level basically depends on the number of Sinhalese Alphabets and Tamil Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Sinhalese and Tamil are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Sinhalese and Tamil, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Sinhalese is 44 weeks while to learn Tamil time required is 44 weeks.

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