Browsing by Author "Weerasekara, R.A.D.P."

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    The Study of the Impact of Language Contact Phenomenon on Vedda Language with Special Reference to Dambana, Sri Lanka
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerasekara, R.A.D.P.
    Language contact is found everywhere, hence there is no evidence to show that any specific language has developed in total isolation from other languages.When we analyze the Vedda language, the language contact phenomenon plays a major role from their history to at present. The primary objective of this study is to analyse the impact of the phenomenon of language contact on Vedda Speech. The secondary objective is to identify the proper linguistic situation of present day Vedda Language. As this research is a qualitative and empirical, the Participant Observation Method based on case study has been used for data elicitation. This research is based on first-hand data elicited from the current Vedda settlement areas, particularly Dambana. The findings of this research show that due to language contact, the present day Vedda has borrowed not only lexical stocks but also sounds, grammar, and meaning from dominant languages, significantly from colloquial Sinhala. The language contact has resulted in it becoming extremely mixed and the language situation of Vedda is severely endangered.Today only a few words of original Vedda language remain while the rest of the words are borrowed from colloquial Sinhalese.The present generation of the Vedda community are neither conversant with their cultural practices nor are they fluent in their original language, hence making them rapidly Sinhalized. In other parts of the country where the Tamil people live, Veddas have already become Tamilized.Through the empirical findings of this research it is clearly evident that the language of the Vedda is fast disappearingdue to cultural and linguistic assimilation.
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    The Vedda Language: A Linguistic Study with Special Reference to Dambana, Sri Lanka
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Weerasekara, R.A.D.P.
    The intent of this research is to examine the current situation of Vedda language from a linguistic point of view based on their overall socio-cultural background. The culture and the language of the Veddas are gradually vanishing and today the original Vedda language does not exist. The most popular accepted theory is that the Vedda language is only a regional dialect of the Sinhala language or a Creole. The research problem of this research is to identify whether the Vedda language is a dialect of Sinhala or Creole or distinct language. When we analyze the Vedda language, the language contact phenomenon play a major role from their history to at present. The present day Vedda language which exist in Sinhala language speaking areas is close to the colloquial Sinhala due to long years of linguistics assimilation. The findings of this research show due to language contact phenomenon, the present day Vedda has borrowed not only lexical stocks but also sounds, grammar, and meaning from dominant languages, significantly from colloquial Sinhalese. These linguistic results of language contact induce us to assume that it has become an extreme language mixture and the language situation is severely endangered. The Vedda settlement areas in Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts almost all Veddas speak Tamil language and at these places the Vedda language has become an extinct language. However the existing linguistic features of Vedda prove that the original Vedda language is a simple hunting language. The research is based on Qualitative Empirical Research Methodology and Participant Observation Method and Case Study were adopted to collect the data. The research is based on the first-hand data elicited from the current Vedda settlement areas, particularly Dambana.