Englishes: Sri Lankan English

• english
• University

Sri Lankan English (SLE)

by Piramila Ramesh-Rabeenthiran

Module: Englishes

Sri Lanka

• South Asia
• Ceylon (until 1972)
• Sinhala (74%) and Tamil (24%)
• English  > link language

British colonisation

• 1796 - 1948 

Do you think that English is an official language in Sri Lanka?

Yes

No

English in Sri Lanka

English is not an official language in Sri Lanka anymore. 

- Administration

- Legal system

The official language of the government was English until 1956.

Source: http://archives.dailynews.lk/2010/07/02/fea03.asp

Sri Lankan English (SLE)

- British English and vernaculars Sinhala and Tamil

The outer circle

Which diaspora/circle does Sri Lankan English (SLE) belong to?

1. First diaspora, the expanding circle
2. Second diaspora, the outer circle
3. The inner circle

Sri Lankan English (SLE)

• British English and vernaculars Sinhala and Tamil
• SSLE
• Schneider's Dynamic model - 5 phases (2010)
• Fourth phase: Endonormative stabilisation 

0

Sri Lankan English (SLE)

• Sri Lankan English as a homogenous variety -

different varieties

Grammar

• Replacing a tag question with 'no'. E.g. ''You'll come, no?''
• The “doubling of the adjectives for emphasis” or to indicate an amount. E.g. “He went to different different places” 
• Omission of the definite article, e.g.  “Let’s go to city.”
• The “use of ‘also’ instead of ‘and’ or ‘both’.” E.g., “The driver is new. He is driving fast also,”
• Change of the word order in questions, e.g. ''Why they are here?''

Lexis

What is the Sri Lankan
name of these delicious
savoury snacks?

1. pastries
2. pastels
3. empanadas
4. patties

/petrol station

settee

junction (any place along a road which has one or more shops)

plain tea

ladies' fingers

Pronunciation 

Difficulty to pronounce certain sounds, because they don't exist in Sinhala or Tamil. 

Pronunciation

• No to less aspiration after /p/, /t/, and /k/, e.g. pull
• Dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ are replaced with  dental plosives /t/ and /d/. The phoneme/ð/ in the word “these” turns into /d/ and the phoneme /θ/ in the word “thin” turns into /t/.
• Pronunciation of /v/ and /w/, e.g. welcome

Prosody

Word stress - advertisement, development

Flatter intonation

Rhythm, 

Social status

• Social advancement;  
  
• Higher levels of society;
• Bilingual;
• Westernized middle class, who live in towns;
• Burgher community 

Source: https://www.elanka.com.au/the-dutch-burghers-and-english-voices-of-survivors/

Social status - Education

English medium - international schools

A/L levels

Prestige

What is this called in SLE?

1. dickie
2. car boot
3. booty
4. trunk

Future

• Sri Lankan English is becoming popular 
• Government's campaign: Speak English Our Way  

Sources

https://roar.media/english/life/culture-identities/british-english-vs-srilankan-english-which-more-acceptable-srilanka

https://rcuocfmf.com/2021/01/evolution-and-current-status-of-sri-lankan-english-and-teaching-english-as-a-second-language.html

Gunasekera, M. (2005). The Postcolonial Identity of Sri Lankan English. Colombo: Katha Publishers.

Jehan Ratnatunga (''jehanr''). (2012). How to speak Sri Lankan. 23 Oktober 2012. 5 April 2021.<https://www.youtube.com/watchv=O9pRfd_j2D4>

Kandiah, T. (1981) Lankan English schizoglossia, English World-Wide (2): 63-81.