Remembering Richard Boyle
September 25 was the first anniversary of the death of the writer Richard Boyle at the age of 72. Richard was a prolific writer, perhaps best remembered for the multiple articles he…
Author: Michael Meyler
Learning Sri Lankan Sign Language
Raise your right hand (or your left if you are left-handed), with the palm facing forward and the fingers spread out. Now form an O with your thumb and your middle finger…
The Extraordinary Life, Times and Talent of Laki Senanayake
Laki is seated on a black, high-backed, padded executive swivel chair. He is bare-bodied, in a bright red sarong, dappled sunlight catching his white beard. On the table in front of him…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: Z is for Z-score and zipperman
Image via Sri Lanka Guardian There are only two Z-words that I have come across in SLE: Z-score and zipperman. Both are terms which are found in standard English, but which have…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: Y is for y’all
Image from Neato Shop Many languages have singular and plural forms of the second person pronoun you, including Sinhala and Tamil. English doesn’t, except in certain dialects: yous or youse is heard…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: X is for extralinguistic communication
Illustrations below by Anura Srinath You have probably seen the YouTube clips of jehanr, which include How to speak Sri Lankan, Shit Sri Lankan mothers say, Apple iYo, etc. Whatever you think…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: W is for will and would
Will and would have a habit of changing places in Sri Lankan English. Sometimes (“I knew the car will be there”), and sometimes it’s the other way round (“We would inform you…
Monsoons and Intermonsoons
Photo courtesy The New Zealand cricketers should not be surprised that their matches are being rained on. The following is from an article titled “The Language of Climate in Sri Lanka” (…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: V is for vel festival
A Hindu vel festival is better described in pictures than words. The photos here were taken a few years ago at the annual festival on Havelock Road, on a rainy August morning……
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: U is for up
The verb cope up is one which divides opinion: is it acceptable Sri Lankan English, or simply an error? It is certainly commonly used in SLE (“He’s finding it hard to cope…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: T is for this thing
Original photo by Deshan Tennekoon What do you call something whose name you don’t know or can’t remember, or which you prefer to avoid naming for whatever reason? A whatsit or a…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: S is for Singlish
Singlish is the term used to describe the mixture of Sinhala and English which is frequently used by bilingual speakers. But Singapore got there first: Singlish is generally accepted as referring to…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: R is for rubber slippers
Image courtesy Odel They’re called . Here in Sri Lanka they’re most commonly referred to as rubber slippers; also bathroom slippers, and Bata slippers (or Batas). And some of us like to…
Trilingual bus signboards
“The private transport services ministry has made it compulsory for all buses to display name boards in Sinhala, Tamil and English languages.” (Sunday Times Online 15/03/12) The 135 bus runs past my…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: Q is for quazi
Equality before the law? I’m no lawyer, but I have always wondered how this fundamental principle is possible in a country with several different legal systems operating alongside one another. The main…