Countries
Malaysia, Mauritius, Puducherry, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu
Sri Lanka
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 in
Tamil-Alphabets.jpg#200
Sinhalese-Alphabets.jpg#200
Scripts
Tamil
Sinhala alphabet
Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
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)
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
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
Language Family
Dravidian Family
Indo-European Family
Subgroup
Not Available
Indo-Iranian
Branch
Not Available
Indic
Early Forms
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil
Sinhalese Prakrit
Standard Forms
Modern Tamil
Modern Sinhalese
Signed Forms
Signed Tamil
Not Available
Scope
Individual
Individual
ISO 639 6
tam
Not Available
Glottocode
tami1289, oldt1248
sinh1246
Linguasphere
tami1289
No data available
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb
Subject-Object-Verb
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Fusional
Tamil and Sinhalese 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 Tamil and Sinhalese greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Tamil and Sinhalese language. Tamil word for "Hello" is வணக்கம் (Vanakkam) or Sinhalese word for "Thank You" is ඔබට ස්තුතියි (obaṭa stutiyi). Find more of such common Tamil Greetings and Sinhalese Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Tamil vs Sinhalese Difficulty
The Tamil vs Sinhalese difficulty level basically depends on the number of Tamil Alphabets and Sinhalese 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 Tamil and Sinhalese are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Tamil and Sinhalese, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Tamil is 44 weeks while to learn Sinhalese time required is 44 weeks.