Sinhala is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 15 million. Sinhala is also spoken by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 3 million. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Sinhala is the official and national language of Sri Lanka.
Over the centuries, many languages have acted as donor languages for Sinhala. These include: Pali, Sanskrit, Tamil from the South Asian region; Portuguese, Dutch and English. from Europe
These are examples of Sinhalese words of English origin
| Word | සිංහල | Meaning | Original form |
|---|---|---|---|
| akkaraya | අක්කරය | Acre | Acre |
| atōrni | ඇටෝනි | Attorney | ||
| administrāsi-kara | Administraor | Administrator | |
| ayis | අයිස් | Ice | Ice |
| ararup | Arrowroot | Arrowroot | |
| bagaasi | Baggage | Baggage | |
| batar | බටර් | Butter | Butter |
| besama | බේසම | Basin | Basin |
| bila | බිල | Bill | Bill |
| bildima | බිල්ඩිම | Building | Building |
| birōva | Bureau | Bureau | |
| bōlaya | බෝලය | Ball | Ball |
| bōTTuva | බෝට්ටුව | Boat | Boat |
| cäk | Cheque | Cheque | |
| chīs | චීස් | Cheese | Cheese |
| departamentuva | දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව | Department | Department |
| distrikkaya | දිස්ත්රිත්තය | District | District |
| dīsiya | දීසිය | Dish | Dish |
| dostara | දොස්තර | Doctor | Doctor |
| dusima | දුසිම | Dozen | Dozen |
| enjima | ඇන්ජිම | Engine | Engine |
| gavuma | ගව්ම | Dress | Gown |
| gääs | ගෑස් | Gas | Gas |
| gēTTuva | ගේට්ටුව | Gate | Gate |
| golōva | Globe | Globe | |
| govärnamentuva | Government | Government | |
| gornamentuva | Government | Government | |
| injinēru | ඉන්ජිනේරැ | Engineer | Engineer |
| ingrīsi | ඉංග්රීසි | English | English |
| jändi | Dandy | Dandy | |
| joli | ජොලි | Fun | Jolly |
| jubiliya | ජුබිලිය | Jubilee | Jubilee |
| kavicciya | කවිච්චිය | Couch | Couch |
| kaskuruppuva | Corkscrew | Corkscrew | |
| kētalaya | කේතලය | Kettle | Kettle |
| komentuva | Comment | Comment | |
| komisama | කොමිසම | Commission | Commission |
| kompāsuva | කොම්පිසුව | Compass | Compass |
| kompäniya | කොම්පැනිය | Company | Company |
| kondēsiya | condition | condition | |
| kopiya | කොපිය | Copy | Copy |
| kōcciya | කෝච්චිය | Train | Coach |
| kōpi | කෝපි | Coffee | Coffee |
| lagaasi | Luggage | luggage | |
| läyistuva | ලැයිස්තුව | List | List |
| listuva | List | List | |
| loriya | ලොරිය | Lorry | Lorry |
| mäshima | මැෂිම | Machine | Machine |
| mīTima | මීටිම | Meeting | Meeting |
| nōTTuva | නෝට්ටුව | Note | Note |
| opīsiya | ඔපීසිය | Office | Office |
| panela | Panel | Panel | |
| pansaya | පැන්සය | Penny | Penny |
| parliamentuva | පාර්ලිමේන්තුව | Parliament | Parliament |
| pavuma | පව්ම | Pound | Pound |
| pänsala | පැන්සල | Pencil | Pencil |
| pääna | පෑන | Pen | Pen |
| pänal | පැනල් | Flannel | Flannel |
| petsama | පෙත්සම | Petition | Petition |
| pōniyā | පෝනයා | Pony | Pony |
| pudima | පුඩිම | Pudding | Pudding |
| regulāsiya | ප | Regulation | Regulation |
| talentaya | Talent | Talent | |
| täligrām | ටෙලිග්රැම් | Telegram | Telegram |
| tambalēruva | Tumbler | Tumbler | |
| trisuriya | Treasury | Treasury | |
| tresuriya | | Treasury | Treasury |
| varentuva | වරෙන්තුව | Warrant | Warrant |
| yāraya | යාරය | Yard (measurement) | Yard (measurement) |