Abstract:
From the beginning of written history, there was an obvious
combination of languages which represented various cultures. The
uniqueness of cultural value of languages depends on the historical
background and it was hard to find an unpolluted origin of language without
incorporating with others languages. In Sri Lanka, most of the languages are
of Indian origin and incorporate with other roots of Indian languages. When
considering the historical aspects of this combination, inscription languages
in ancient Sri Lankan society are more important. Inscription means an
ancient way of communication of the state or some institutes and with the
general public. Therefore, the language of inscription represents various
cultural impacts on contemporary societies. Many Sri Lankan inscriptions
were written by current scholarly language or general languages. These
trends are based on emerging influence of cultural patterns. In Sri Lankan
situation, Sinhala language was common in ancient inscription writing. But
with the cultural combinations, Tamil language effect to the Sinhala
inscriptions. Some Tamil words like Pernattu, Ulwadu, Welaykkara,
Weriwalakkam, Meyakkappar, Adakkalam, Samakkattu, Angampadi were used as
Tamil origin word in Sinhala inscriptions. Especially inscriptions like
Girithale, Allewewa, Athurupolayagama, Welyakkara, reflected language
combination of Sinhala or Tamil. Terms and grammar patterns were
combined with these Indian origin languages. In few inscriptions which
were written after the 8th Century A.D. reflected these influences. In this
study, the main objective is to find these influences and discuss about the
historical background of these trends.
