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Tamil and Sinhalese


Sinhalese and Tamil


Countries

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

Total No. Of Countries
6   
9
1   
14

National Language
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu   
Sri Lanka   

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

Speaking Continents
Asia   
Asia   

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

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

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
    •   
  • In Sinhalese language, there are many loanwords from Dravidian languages mainly Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch and English.
  • Sinhalese language has it own script/ writing system.
  

Similar To
Malayalam   
Maldivian Language   

Derived From
Not Available   
Sanskrit Language   

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
247   
99+
54   
33

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
12   
9
18   
15

How Many Consonants
18   
8
36   
26

Scripts
Tamil   
Sinhala alphabet   

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

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3   
2
2   
1

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks   
11
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)   
හලෝ (halō)   

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

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

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

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

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

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

Please
தயவு (Tayavu)   
කරුණාකර (karuṇākara)   

Sorry
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)   
සමාවන්න (samāvanna)   

Bye
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)   
බායි (bāyi)   

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

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

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kongu   
Vedda   

Where They Speak
Kongu   
Sri Lanka   

Dialect 2
Madurai Tamil   
Not Available   

Where They Speak
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu   
Not Available   

Dialect 3
Tirunelveli Tamil   
Not Available   

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

Total No. Of Dialects
10   
10
1   
1

How Many People Speak

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

Speaking Population
1.06 %   
19
0.25 %   
99+

Native Speakers
70.00 million   
15
16.00 million   
39

Second Language Speakers
8.00 million   
24
2.00 million   
34

Native Name
தமிழ்   
සිංහල (sĩhala)   

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

French Name
tamoul   
singhalais   

German Name
Tamil   
Singhalesisch   

Pronunciation
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]   
Not Available   

Ethnicity
Tamil people or Tamilans   
Sinhalese people   

History

Origin
300 BC   
3   

Language Family
Dravidian Family   
Indo-European Family   

Subgroup
Not Available   
Indo-Iranian   

Branch
Not Available   
Indic   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil   
Sinhalese Prakrit   

Standard Forms
Modern Tamil   
Modern Sinhalese   

Language Position
18   
16
70   
99+

Signed Forms
Signed Tamil   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
ta   
si   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
tam   
sin   

ISO 639 2/B
tam   
sin   

ISO 639 3
tam   
sin   

ISO 639 6
tam   
Not Available   

Glottocode
tami1289, oldt1248   
sinh1246   

Linguasphere
tami1289   
No data available   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

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

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Fusional   

Summary >>
<< Code

All Tamil and Sinhalese Dialects

Most languages have dialects where each dialect differ from other dialect with respect to grammar and vocabulary. Here you will get to know all Tamil and Sinhalese dialects. Various dialects of Tamil and Sinhalese language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Tamil are spoken in different Tamil Speaking Countries whereas Sinhalese Dialects are spoken in different Sinhalese speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Tamil vs Sinhalese Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Tamil dialects include: Kongu, Madurai Tamil. Sinhalese dialects include: Vedda , Not Available. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

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Tamil and Sinhalese Speaking population

Tamil and Sinhalese speaking population is one of the factors based on which Tamil and Sinhalese languages can be compared. The total count of Tamil and Sinhalese Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Tamil language is 1.06 % whereas the percentage of people speaking Sinhalese language is 0.25 %. When we compare the speaking population of any two languages we get to know which of two languages is more popular. Find more details about how many people speak Tamil and Sinhalese on Tamil vs Sinhalese where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Tamil and Sinhalese Language Codes

Tamil and Sinhalese language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Tamil and Sinhalese Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.

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