Browsing by Author "Randula, K.K.G."

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An Appreciation of Aelian de Silva's Contribution as a Neologist
(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH 2018/2019), Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Randula, K.K.G.
Neologisation is the act of coining and accompanying neologisms i.e., new words to the lexicon of a language. Aelian de Silva (31st October 1926 - 22nd December 2015), an electrical engineer by profession, was a neologist of the recent times who made a significant contribution to the lexical development of the Sinhalese language. However, his endeavours as a neologist have not yet been subjected to a commendable appreciation. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the linguistic features of his neologisms while focusing on the neologisation processes employed in coining them. An adequate corpus of data was collected for examination by referring to the books and articles written by Aelian de Silva. The data were analysed utilising the theories and methods of structural linguistics. It was observed in the analysis that his contribution to the field of neologisation is mainly two-fold. Firstly he has outlined five salient features that one should take into consideration in coining Sinhalese technical terms. These are flexibility, brevity, precision, comprehensibility, and pronounceability. Flexibility refers to the ability to yield the whole derivational paradigm of the neologism. Brevity refers to the one to one correspondence between the source and target forms. Precision is when the term conveys the exact intended meaning and nothing more or less. Comprehensibility is the quality of being intelligible to the average native speaker of the language. Pronounceablity is the quality of being easily pronounceable. In order to conform to these five salient features, Aelian de Silva always encouraged the use of indigenous roots in coining Sinhalese neologisms as borrowed foreign roots fail to fully comply with the five salient features. Secondly, Aelian de Silva has accompanied more than three thousand neologisms to the lexicon of the modern Sinhalese language. Most of them appear in the glossary of his masterpiece Technical Terms in Sinhala which was published in 2002. Interestingly, a considerable number of the neologisms he coined have gained currency in many a technical discipline like electrical engineering, petroleum industry, and television industry. Thus, Aelian de Silva's contribution to the lexical development of the modern Sinhalese language is a commendable service which deserves a proper appreciation preceded by strenuous research.
The contribution of Kumaratunga Munidasa as an individual language planner
(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Randula, K.K.G.
Language planning refers to deliberate and systematic attempts taken to solve the language problems of a speech community. Usually such measures in standardising a language’s structure and determining its political status are taken by a country’s political authority. Cumaratunga Munidasa (25th July 1887 - 02nd March 1944) was one of the greatest classical Sinhalese scholars of the 20th century, whose service to the Sinhalese language has been subjected to extensive studies in various disciplines. It has been observed that certain acts of Cumaratunga Munidasa reflect the features of a corpus planner, while his impact on promoting the Sinhalese language to the official language status has been of extreme significance. Since Cumaratunga’s contribution has not been substantially evaluated in the perspective of language planning, this study attempts to recognise Cumaratunga as an individual language planner. Data for the study were collected from writings of Cumaratunga ranging from paper articles to voluminous books. The language planning model proposed by E. Haugen (1983) was adapted in the evaluation process. In this study it has been observed that it is proper to recognise Cumaratunga Munidasa’s role in revitalising the Sinhalese language as the contribution of an individual language planner.
Iconic Gaṇapati to aniconic Pillaiyār: An archaeological and ethnographical study on iconographic variations of Gaṇēsha figures in Sri Lanka
(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Dr.Bogahawatta, C.; Koshalee, K.V.J.; Peiris, P.T.M.; Randula, K.K.G.
A sculpture of a two-armed Gaṇapati has been found on the frontispiece of Mihintale Kaṇṭaka Cētiya shows the concept of Gaṇapati has been known to Sri Lankan Buddhist society since 2nd century CE. During Polonnaruwa era (11th-12th Century CE) many four-armed stone images and bronzes of Gaṇapati is appeared due to the cultural interaction between Sri Lanka and south India. It is clear that four-armed Gaṇapati became popular among Sinhalese Buddhists since Polonnaruwa era, and he was intruded into Buddhist pantheon. Worshipping Gaṇēsha by the name of Pillaiyār or Pullaiyār in North-Central and Northern Provinces by Sinhalese Buddhists should be paid a special attention owing to the simple aniconic figure of which the deity is represented. Thus, three major forms of representing Gaṇēsha among Buddhists in the area covering North-Central and Northern Provinces from historic period can be identified. It is questionable that 'why the aniconic figure is restricted to a specific area while the four-armed Gaṇēsha figure is still being the common representation among the Buddhists in other parts of the country?'. Therefore, the paper seeks to examine the socio-cultural factors which would have influence the evolution of the Gaṇēsha sculpture of that area. It is revealed that the beliefs of Gaṇapati in the Buddhist socio-cultural context of the area were influenced in forming the iconography of the deity.
Phono-semantic Matching in the Sinhalese Language: A Neologisation Process Innovated by Cumaratnnga Mnnidasa
(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Randula, K.K.G.
A Structural Linguistic Study of Cumaratunga Munidasa’s Neologisms of Sanskrit Origin
(International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Randula, K.K.G.
Cumaratunga Munidasa (25th July 1887 - 02nd March 1944) is admired as the first scholar to recognise the need of Sinhalese neologisms capable of imparting modern scientific and technical knowledge in the twentieth century. Being the pioneer ideologist of the Sinhalese purist school, he is popularly known for his strong resistance to Sanskrit borrowings. Still, among the neologisms he coined before his ideological shift to extreme purism, a considerable number of neologisms of Sanskrit origin are found. This study attempts to examine the structural linguistic features of these neologisms formed by Cumaratunga employing Sanskrit roots. Accordingly, an adequate corpus of data was collected by referring to a number of books and articles written by Cumaratunga. Theories in structural linguistics were utilised for the data analysis. All the Sanskrit borrowings among Cumaratunga’s neologisms can be broadly categorised into two typological classes as adopted borrowings and adapted borrowings. Adopted borrowings are foreign words introduced into a language without any phonemic alteration in their forms. Among these both complex words and compound words are found. Complex words are the morphological constructions formed by attaching affixes to root forms. These constructions contain both prefixed forms and suffixed forms. Compound words are the morphological constructions that contain more than one root form. Among these both two-root compounds and poly-root compounds are found. Adapted borrowings are foreign words induced into a target language with various formal alterations to assure compliance with its phonology. Vowel shortening, aspiration loss and dentalisation are the three main processes of phonological simplification operated in adapting Sanskrit borrowings. It has been observed that most of the neologisms coined by Cumaratunga employing Sanskrit roots are not original coinages, but loan translations which render meanings borrowed from English with forms borrowed from Sanskrit. Therefore in conclusion it can be stated that such neologisms are of bifurcated origin
අනුරාධපුර යුගයේ අත්තාණි කණුවල දැක්වෙන පුරාතන ලංකාවේ වෘක්ෂ ආරක්‍ෂණය
(Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, 2017) Peiris, P.T.M.; Kulathunga, Y.R.; Randula, K.K.G.