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A-Z of Sri Lankan English

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A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: J is for jobless

In the UK and the US, being jobless is simply another word for being unemployed, not having a job – especially in newspaper headlines. Here in Sri Lanka it has an additional…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 03/15/2011
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Fiction / Creative Writing

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: I is for isn’t it?

A tag question (or question tag) is a short question tagged onto the end of a sentence: “It’s raining, isn’t it?” It is usually pronounced with a rising-falling intonation (high pitch on…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 02/10/201102/08/2011
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: H is for had

I recently listened to someone telling a story in the course of an informal conversation. The speaker was a Sri Lankan whose first language is English, and the story involved a group…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 01/03/201101/01/2011
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: G is for gode

Mahinda Rajapaksa makes no bones about his goday origins“ (Daily News 12/02/2010) The basic meaning of the Sinhala word gode (or goday) is rural, of the land, of the village, conjuring up…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 12/09/201012/13/2010
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language, Media and Communications

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: F is for for

Before reading on, try this short test. Which of the following sentences do you consider to be grammatically correct? 1. They have over a thousand visitors for a month. 2. They get…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 10/30/201012/28/2010
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Jaffna, Language, Media and Communications, Peace and Conflict

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: E is for Eelamist

The word Eelamist (as adjective or noun) refers to a person or organisation which supports the Tamil separatist cause in Sri Lanka. Like certain other -ist words (Zionist, Islamist, Loyalist), the word…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 10/02/201012/28/2010
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: D is for deffa

Eyebrows were raised when I included the word deffa on the mirisgala website under “new entries”. And it’s true that it is stretching the point to claim that it qualifies as standard…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 08/29/201012/28/2010
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

A-Z of Sri Lankan English: C is for cousin brother

The terms cousin brother and cousin sister are not used in standard British English. Nowadays they are used in Sri Lanka to refer to any male cousin or female cousin respectively, but…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 07/09/2010
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

B is for balls (and bowls)

In the article “The bowl-or-ball dilemma of rubbishing English standards” (6/6/2010), Dilshan Boange adds his voice to the growing clamour of protest at the idea of speaking English “our way”. He recounts…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 06/29/201012/28/2010
A-Z of Sri Lankan English, Colombo, Language

A is for Adhi Vesak

An adhipoya is an extra poya day inserted into the Buddhist lunar calendar to ensure that it stays in sync with the western (solar) calendar. In December 2009 there were two poya…

Michael Meyler Michael Meyler on 05/16/201012/28/2010

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