Home
Languagevs


Sinhalese vs Tamil


Tamil vs Sinhalese


Countries

Countries
Sri Lanka  
Malaysia, Mauritius, Puducherry, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
6  
9

National Language
Sri Lanka  
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  

Second Language
Sri Lanka  
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, kerala, Puducherry  

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles  

Regulated By
Hela Havula (හෙළ හවුල)  
Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur Tamil University  

Interesting Facts
  • In Sinhalese language, there are many loanwords from Dravidian languages mainly Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch and English.
  • Sinhalese language has it own script/ writing system.
  
  • Tamil is the oldest language in the world. Tamil was spoken in South India more than 5000 years ago.
  • The first legally recognized Classical Language of India is Tamil.
    •   

Similar To
Maldivian Language  
Malayalam  

Derived From
Sanskrit Language  
-  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Sinhalese-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Tamil-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
54  
33
247  
99+

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
18  
15
12  
9

How Many Consonants
36  
26
18  
8

Scripts
Sinhala alphabet  
Tamil  

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
2  
1
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
හලෝ (halō)  
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)  

Thank You
ඔබට ස්තුතියි (obaṭa stutiyi)  
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)  

How Are You?
ඔබ කොහොමද (oba kohomada)  
நீங்கள் எப்படி இருக்கிறீர்கள்? (Nīṅkaḷ eppaṭi irukkiṟīrkaḷ?)  

Good Night
සුභ රාත්රියක් (subha rātriyak)  
நல்ல இரவு (Good night) / irravu vanakkam (Good night)  

Good Evening
සුබ සැන්දෑවක් (suba sændǣvak)  
நல்ல மாலை (Nalla mālai)/ மாலை (irravu vanakkam)  

Good Afternoon
සුභ සන්ධ්යාවක් (subha sandhyāvak)  
பிற்பகல் வணக்கம் (perpagal vanakkam)  

Good Morning
සුභ උදෑසනක් (subha udǣsanak)  
காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai Vanakkam)  

Please
කරුණාකර (karuṇākara)  
தயவு (Tayavu)  

Sorry
සමාවන්න (samāvanna)  
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)  

Bye
බායි (bāyi)  
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)  

I Love You
මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි (mama oyāṭa ādareyi)  
நான் உன்னை காதலிக்கிறேன் (Naan Unnai Kadalikiren)  

Excuse Me
මට සමාවෙන්න (maṭa samāvenna)  
என்னை மன்னியுங்கள் (Eṉṉai maṉṉiyuṅkaḷ)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Vedda  
Kongu  

Where They Speak
Sri Lanka  
Kongu  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
30
77,000,000.00  
10

Dialect 2
Sri Lankan Sinhala  
Madurai Tamil  

Where They Speak
-  
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu  

How Many People Speak
19,000,000.00  
27
77,000,000.00  
8

Dialect 3
Up-Country Sinhalese  
Tirunelveli Tamil  

Where They Speak
-  
South Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli  

How Many People Speak
16,000,000.00  
27
77,000,000.00  
7

Total No. Of Dialects
1  
1
10  
10

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
16.00 million  
99+
78.00 million  
21

Speaking Population
0.25 %  
99+
1.06 %  
20

Native Speakers
16.00 million  
39
70.00 million  
15

Second Language Speakers
2.00 million  
99+
8.00 million  
99+

Native Name
සිංහල (sĩhala)  
தமிழ்  

Alternative Names
Cingalese, Singhala, Singhalese, Sinhala  
Damulian, Tamal, Tamalsan, Tambul, Tamili  

French Name
singhalais  
tamoul  

German Name
Singhalesisch  
Tamil  

Pronunciation
[ˈsiŋhəliːz]  
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]  

Ethnicity
Sinhalese people  
Tamil people or Tamilans  

History

Origin
3  
300 BC  

Language Family
Indo-European Family  
Dravidian Family  

Subgroup
Indo-Iranian  
-  

Branch
Indic  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Sinhalese Prakrit  
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil  

Standard Forms
Modern Sinhalese  
Modern Tamil  

Language Position
70  
99+
18  
16

Signed Forms
Signed Sinhalese  
Signed Tamil  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
si  
ta  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sin  
tam  

ISO 639 2/B
sin  
tam  

ISO 639 3
sin  
tam  

ISO 639 6
sin  
tam  

Glottocode
sinh1246  
tami1289, oldt1248  

Linguasphere
No data available  
tami1289  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb  
Subject-Object-Verb  

Language Morphological Typology
Fusional  
-  

Countries >>
<< All

Sinhalese and Tamil Language History

Comparison of Sinhalese vs Tamil language history gives us differences between origin of Sinhalese and Tamil language. History of Sinhalese language states that this language originated in 3 whereas history of Tamil language states that this language originated in 300 BC. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Sinhalese and Tamil Language History.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

Sinhalese and Tamil Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Sinhalese and Tamil greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Sinhalese and Tamil language. Sinhalese word for "Hello" is හලෝ (halō) or Tamil word for "Thank You" is நன்றி (Naṉṟi). Find more of such common Sinhalese Greetings and Tamil Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Sinhalese vs Tamil Difficulty

The Sinhalese vs Tamil difficulty level basically depends on the number of Sinhalese Alphabets and Tamil Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Sinhalese and Tamil are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Sinhalese and Tamil, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Sinhalese is 44 weeks while to learn Tamil time required is 44 weeks.

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages