Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Sections
    • A-Z of Sri Lankan English
    • Banyan News Reporters
    • Longing and Belonging
    • Long Reads
    • LLRC Archive
  • Authors
  • Editors
  • Special Editions
    • End of war | 5 years on
    • 30 Years Ago
    • Mediated | Art
    • Moving Images
    • End of War
    • Remember the Riots
  • About
  • Contact
  • Site Guidelines
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • Subscribe: RSS | EMAIL
  • ARCHIVES
Groundviews

Author: Michael Meyler

Year
Month
Advocacy, Colombo, Disabilities, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 09/02/202109/02/2021
Arts and Theatre, Colombo, Culture

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 06/05/202107/07/2021
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Media and Communications

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 03/19/2013
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 01/28/2013
Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 01/02/201301/02/2013
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 12/01/201201/01/2013
Colombo, Environment, Language, Sport

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” (…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 11/08/201207/22/2016
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Peace and Conflict, Religion and faith

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……

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 10/07/201210/07/2012
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 08/27/2012
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 07/07/2012
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 06/14/201207/07/2012
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 05/07/201207/07/2012
Colombo, Language, Politics and Governance

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 03/22/201203/22/2012
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

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…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 03/12/2012
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Religion and faith

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: P is for pre-poya

Photo courtesy M.A. Pushpa Kumara / EPA, via Photo Blog on MSNBC Poya must be one of the first Sri Lankan English terms to enter the vocabulary of foreigners when they arrive in…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 02/06/201203/12/2012

Posts navigation

Older posts

  • Popular
  • Recent

Popular Articles

  • Sri Lanka’s Reform-Regress-Run to the IMF Crisis Cycle
  • From Pilgrim to Terrorist
  • The Hardships of the Forgotten Plantation Sector
  • Making the IMF Work for Sri Lankans
  • Reporting on identity in the Sri Lankan media: Ethics and errors

Recent Articles

  • From Pilgrim to Terrorist
  • Saving Forests with Corporate and Public Responsibility
  • Sri Lanka’s Reform-Regress-Run to the IMF Crisis Cycle
  • The Hardships of the Forgotten Plantation Sector
  • The Globalisation of Asian Cinema

Facebook

Groundviews

Twitter

Tweets by @groundviews

Copyright © 2016 Groundviews. All rights reserved. All content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Web Design & Development by SABERION