View source for Sinhala script

{{short description|Abugida writing system}}
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{{use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
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{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
{{original research|date=February 2025}}
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{{Infobox writing system
| name        = Sinhalese script
| altname     = {{lang|si|සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාව}}<br/>''Siṁhala Akṣara Mālāwa''
| type        = [[Abugida]]
| SHline      = 
| SHtype      = 
| SHform      = |
| typedesc    = 
| languages   = [[Sinhala language|Sinhalese]], [[Pali]], [[Sanskrit]]
| creator     = 
| date        = 
| published   = 
| time        = 8th century CE – present<ref name=diringer/>
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
| fam4        = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
| fam5        = [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]]<ref>Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography, R. Malatesha Joshi, Catherine McBride (2019), p.28</ref>{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=408}}
| fam6        = [[Tamil-Brahmi]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy |date=1998 |page=40}}</ref>
| fam7        = [[Pallava script|Pallava]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirza |first1=Amna |last2=Gottardo |first2=Alexandra |title=Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography |date=2019 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-05977-4|pages=329–351 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-05977-4_17 |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=en |chapter=Learning to Read in Their Heritage Language: Hindi-English Speaking Children Reading Two Different Orthographies|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-05977-4_17 }}</ref>
| fam8        = [[Grantha script|Grantha]]<ref name=diringer>{{cite book |last1=Diringer |first1=David |title=Alphabet a key to the history of mankind |date=1948 |page=389}}</ref><ref name="cardona"/>
| print       = 
| sisters     = 
| children    = 
| sample      = සිංහල in Noto Serif Sinhala Black.svg
| imagesize   = 
| unicode     = {{ublist |class=nowrap |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0D80.pdf U+0D80–U+0DFF] {{smaller|Sinhala}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U111E0.pdf U+111E0–U+111FF] {{smaller|Sinhala Archaic Numbers}}}}
| iso15924    = Sinh
| iso15924 note = 
| note        = 
| footnotes   = 
}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
{{Brahmic}}

The '''Sinhalese script''' ({{langx|si|සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාව|Siṁhala Akṣara Mālāwa}}), also known as '''Sinhala script''', is a [[writing system]] used by the [[Sinhalese people]] and most [[Sri Lankans]] in [[Sri Lanka]] and elsewhere to write the [[Sinhala language|Sinhalese language]] as well as the [[liturgical language]]s [[Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]].{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=408}} The Sinhalese Akṣara Mālāva, one of the [[Brahmic scripts]], is a descendant of the [[Ancient India]]n [[Brahmi script]]. It is thought to be derived from [[Grantha script]].<ref name="masica">{{cite book |last1=Masica |first1=Colin P. |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |date=1993 |page=143}}</ref><ref name="diringer" /><ref name=":0" />

==History==
The Sinhala script is a [[Brahmic script|Brahmi derivate]] and was thought to have been imported from Northern India around the 3rd century BCE.{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=379}} It developed in a complex manner, partly independently but also strongly influenced by South Indian scripts at various stages,<ref name="cardona">{{cite book |last1=Cardona |first1=George |last2=Dhanesh |first2=Jain |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |date=2003 |page=109}}</ref> manifestly influenced by the early [[Grantha alphabet|Grantha script]].{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=408}}<ref name="diringer" /> Pottery from the 6th century BCE has been found in [[Anuradhapura]] with lithic Brahmi inscriptions written in [[Helu Prakrit]]. It has caused debate as to whether Ceylonese Brahmi influenced Brahmi in the Indian mainland.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHHzP4uVpn4C&q=anuradhapura+brahmi&pg=PA119|title=The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia|last=Ray|first=Himanshu Prabha|date=2003-08-14|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521011099|language=en}}</ref>

Medieval Sinhalese, which emerged around 750 AD, which is thought to be derived from [[Grantha script]].<ref name=diringer>{{cite book |last1=Diringer |first1=David |title=Alphabet a key to the history of mankind |date=1948 |page=389}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=Pillai |first=N. Nadaraja |year=2018 |title=Contributions of the Tamils to the Writing Systems of Some South-East Asian Countries |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/jan2018/nadarajantamilwritingsystems.pdf |journal=Language in India |publisher=Language in India |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=403 |issn=1930-2940 |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref> Although, it has to be noted that between the Proto-Sinhalese and the Medieval Sinhalese that the found inscriptions are radically different, thus, it looks like a break.<ref name="diringer" /> However, according to the author Diringer a new script which has been derived from the Grantha script "''was also later employed for official inscriptions''".<ref name="diringer" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Pillai |first=N. Nadaraja |year=2018 |title=Contributions of the Tamils to the Writing Systems of Some South-East Asian Countries |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/jan2018/nadarajantamilwritingsystems.pdf |journal=Language in India |publisher=Language in India |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=403 |issn=1930-2940 |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref> Subsequently, Medieval (and modern) Sinhalese resemble the South Indian scripts.<ref name="cardona"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Pillai |first=N. Nadaraja |year=2018 |title=Contributions of the Tamils to the Writing Systems of Some South-East Asian Countries |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/jan2018/nadarajantamilwritingsystems.pdf |journal=Language in India |publisher=Language in India |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=403 |issn=1930-2940 |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref> The earliest surviving literature is from the 9th century CE, by this time around the script became more prevalent and was used in other contexts as well.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pillai |first=N. Nadaraja |year=2018 |title=Contributions of the Tamils to the Writing Systems of Some South-East Asian Countries |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/jan2018/nadarajantamilwritingsystems.pdf |journal=Language in India |publisher=Language in India |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=403 |issn=1930-2940 |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref> For instance, the [[Pali Canon|Buddhist literature]] of the [[Theravada]]-[[Buddhism|Buddhists]] of Sri Lanka, written in [[Pali]], used Sinhala script.

Modern Sinhalese emerged in the 13th century and is marked by the composition of the grammar book ''Sidat Sangara''.<ref name=diringer/> In 1736, the Dutch were the first to print with Sinhala [[Typeface|type]] on the island. The resulting type followed the features of the native Sinhala script used on palm leaves. The type created by the Dutch was monolinear and geometric in fashion, with no separation between words in early documents. During the second half of the 19th century, during the [[History of British Ceylon|colonial period]], a new style of Sinhala letterforms emerged in opposition to the monolinear and geometric form that used high contrast and had varied thicknesses. This high contrast type gradually replaced the monolinear type as the preferred style and continues to be used in the present day. The high contrast style is still preferred for text typesetting in printed newspapers, books, and magazines in Sri Lanka.<ref name="Dalton" />

Today, the alphabet is used by over [[Demographics of Sri Lanka|16 million people]] to write Sinhala in very diverse contexts, such as [[List of newspapers in Sri Lanka|newspapers]], [[List of television networks in Sri Lanka|TV commercials]], [[Government of Sri Lanka|government]] announcements, [[graffiti]], and [[Education in Sri Lanka|schoolbooks]].

[[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] is the main language written in this script, but rare instances of its use for writing [[Sri Lankan Creole Malay language|Sri Lanka Malay]] have been recorded.<ref name="Nordhoff2009">{{Cite book
| author = Nordhoff S
| title = A grammar of Upcountry Sri Lanka Malay 
| publisher = LOT Publications
| place = Utrecht
| pages = 35
| url = https://www.lotpublications.nl/a-grammar-of-upcountry-sri-lanka-malay-a-grammar-of-upcountry-sri-lanka-malay
| isbn = 978-94-6093-011-9
| date = 2009}}</ref>

==Structure==
[[Image:Sinhala letter "ක" (ka) combinations example.svg|right|thumb|The basic form of the letter k is ක "ka". For "ki", a small arch called ''ispilla'' is placed over the ක: කි. This replaces the inherent {{IPA|/a/}} by {{IPA|/i/|cat=no}}. It is also possible to have no vowel following a consonant. In order to produce such a pure consonant, a special marker, the ''hal kirīma'' has to be added: ක්. This marker suppresses the inherent vowel.]]

Sinhala script is an [[abugida]] written from left to right. It uses [[consonant]]s as the basic unit for word construction as each consonant has an [[inherent vowel]] ({{IPA|/a/}}), which can be changed with a different vowel stroke. To represent different sounds it is necessary to add vowel strokes, or diacritics called {{lang|si|පිලි}} (Pili), that can be used before, after, above, or below the base-consonant. Most of the Sinhala letters are curlicues; straight lines are almost completely absent from the alphabet, and it does not have joining characters. This is because Sinhala used to be written on [[Palm leaf manuscript|dried palm leaves]], which would split along the veins on writing straight lines. This was undesirable, and therefore, the round shapes were preferred. Upper and lower cases do not exist in Sinhala.<ref name="Dalton">{{cite web |title=The Sinhala Script |url=https://blog.daltonmaag.com/tag/non-latin-fonts/ |website=Dalton Maag |access-date=26 August 2018 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826150426/https://blog.daltonmaag.com/tag/non-latin-fonts/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Sinhala letters are ordered into two sets. The core set of letters forms the pure Sinhala ({{langx|si|ශුද්ධ සිංහල|śuddha siṃhala}} alphabet, which is a subset of the mixed Sinhala ({{langx|si|මිශ්‍ර සිංහල|miśra siṃhala}} alphabet). The definition of the two sets is thus a historic one. The śuddha alphabet, also called the Eḷu alphabet ({{langx|si|එළු හෝඩිය|Eḷu hōdiya}}), contains everything necessary to write [[Eḷu]], or classical Sinhala, as described in the classical grammar [[Sidatsangarā|Sidatsan̆garā]] (1300 AD).{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}} The śuddha alphabet is also a good representation of the phoneme inventory of present-day colloquial Sinhala;{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}} all native sounds of the Modern Sinhala can be represented by ''{{IAST|śuddha}}''. The ''śuddha'' also includes the letters and diacritics for the [[retroflex consonants]] {{angle bracket|ḷ}} and {{angle bracket|ṇ}}, which are not phonemic in modern Sinhala but are needed for the representation of Eḷu. However, words which historically contained these two phonemes are still often written with these letters, despite changes in pronunciation.

The {{lang|si|{{IAST|miśra siṃhala}}}} alphabet includes letters for [[Middle Indic]] [[aspirated consonant|aspirate]], [[retroflex]] and [[sibilant]] consonants which are not found in modern Sinhala, but are used in the transcription of are used for transcribing [[loanword]]s from Sanskrit ([[tatsama]]), Pali or [[Sinhalese words of English Origin|English]].  Although modern Sinhala sounds are not aspirated, aspiration is marked in the sound where it was historically present, to highlight the differences in modern spelling. The use of {{lang|si|{{IAST|miśra siṃhala}}}} letters is mainly a question of prestige. From a purely phonemic point of view, their sounds can all be represented by ''śuddha'' letters.{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}}

Although most phonemes of Sinhala can be represented by a ''śuddha'' letter or by a ''miśra'' letter, normally only one of them is considered correct. Additionally, the ''śuddha'' set itself contains both {{angle bracket|ḷ}} and {{angle bracket|l}}, as well as {{angle bracket|ṇ}} and {{angle bracket|n}}, and neither pair is distinctive in Modern sinhala. This one-to-many mapping of phonemes onto graphemes is a frequent source of misspellings.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|pp=15, 17-18}}

While a phoneme can be represented by more than one grapheme, each grapheme can be pronounced in only one way, with the exceptions of the inherent vowel sound, which can be either {{IPA|[a]}} (stressed) or {{IPA|[ə]}} (unstressed), and "ව" where the consonant is either {{IPA|[v]}} or {{IPA|[w]}} depending on the word. This means that the actual [[pronunciation]] of a word is almost always clear from its spelling. Stress is almost always predictable; only words with {{IPA|[v]}} or {{IPA|[w]}} (which are both allophones of "ව"), and a very few other words need to be learnt individually.

===Consonants=== 
The {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} alphabet includes eight [[plosive]]s, two [[fricative]]s, two [[affricate]]s, two [[nasal stop|nasals]], two [[liquid consonant|liquids]] and two [[semivowel|glides]]. As in other [[Brahmic scripts]], each consonant carries an [[inherent vowel]], which in Sinhala is {{IPA|/a/}}.

{|class="wikitable letters letters-table"
|+ Śuddha and miśra consonants<ref name="omniglot">{{cite web |title=Sinhala (සිංහල)    |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/sinhala.htm |website=www.omniglot.com |publisher=Simon Ager |access-date=4 August 2024}}</ref>{{noteTag|group=consonants|Letters in black belong to the {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} set, while letters in pink belong to the {{translit|si|iso|miśra}} set.}}
|- 
| rowspan=2|
! colspan=2|Unvoiced
! colspan=2|Voiced
! rowspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
! rowspan=2|[[Approximant]]
! rowspan=2|[[Sibilant]]
! rowspan=2|[[Fricative]]
! rowspan=2|Other
|-
! Inaspirate
! Aspirated
! Inaspirate
! Aspirate
|-
! scope=row | [[velar consonant|velar]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ක|iso=ka|ipa=[ka]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඛ|iso=kha|ipa=[ka]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ග|iso=ga|ipa=[ga]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඝ|iso=gha|ipa=[ga]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඞ|iso=ṅa|ipa=[ŋa]}}
|
|
|{{letter|l=si|note=śuddha|ch=හ|iso=ha|ipa=[ɦa]}}
|
|-
! scope=row | [[palatal consonant|palatal]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha {{noteTag|name=ca|group=consonants|The voiceless affricate (ච {{IPA|[t͡ʃa]}}) is not included in the ''śuddha'' set by purists since it does not occur in the main text of the Sidatsan̆garā. The Sidatsan̆garā does use it in examples though, so this sound did exist in Eḷu. In any case, it is needed for the representation of modern Sinhala.{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}}}}|ch=ච|iso=ca|ipa=[tʃa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඡ|iso=cha|ipa=[tʃa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ජ|iso=ja|ipa=[dʒa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඣ|iso=jha|ipa=[dʒa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඤ|iso=ñ|ipa=[ɲa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ය|iso=ya|ipa=[ja]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ශ|iso=śa|ipa=[ʃa]}}
|
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඥ|iso=jña|ipa=[d͡ʒɲa]}}
|-
! scope=row | [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ට|iso=ṭa|ipa=[ʈa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඨ|iso=ṭha|ipa=[ʈa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ඩ|iso=ḍa|ipa=[ɖa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඪ|iso=ḍha|ipa=[ɖa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha {{noteTag|name=ell}}|ch=ණ|iso=ṇa|ipa=[ɳa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ර|iso=ra|ipa=[ra]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ෂ|iso=ṣa|ipa=[ʃa]}}
|
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha {{noteTag|name=ell|group=consonants|The retroflex sounds /ɭ/ and /ɳ/, are no longer phonemic in modern Sinhala, but the letters {{angbr|ළ}} and {{angbr|ණ}} are still included in the śuddha set. Retroflex pronunciations can be found in historic speech.}}|ch=ළ|iso=ḷa|ipa=[ɭa]}}
|-
! scope=row | [[dental consonant|dental]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ත|iso=ta|ipa=[ta]}} 
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ථ|iso=tha|ipa=[ta]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ද|iso=da|ipa=[da]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ධ|iso=dha|ipa=[da]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=න|iso=na|ipa=[na]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ල|iso=la|ipa=[la]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ස|iso=sa|ipa=[sa]}}	
|
|
|-
! scope=row | [[labial consonant|labial]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ප|iso=pa|ipa=[pa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඵ|iso=pha|ipa=[pa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=බ|iso=ba|ipa=[ba]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=භ|iso=bha|ipa=[ba]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ම|iso=ma|ipa=[ma]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ව|iso=va/wa|ipa=[ʋa]}}
|
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ෆ|iso=fa|ipa=[f]}}
|
|}
{{noteFoot|group=consonants}}

====Prenasalization====
The [[prenasalized consonant]]s resemble their plain counterparts. {{angbr|ඹ}}, ''m̆ba'' is made up of the left half of {{angbr|ම}} ''ma'' and the right half of {{angbr|බ}} ''ba'', while the other three are just like the grapheme for the plosive with a little stroke added.{{sfn|Fairbanks|Gair|Silva|1968|p=126}} Vowel diacritics attach to a prenasalised consonant in the same way as they would to the corresponding plain plosives.

{| class="wikitable letters"
|+ Prenasalized consonants{{noteTag|group=consonants|Letters in black belong to the {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} set, while letters in pink belong to the {{translit|si|iso|miśra}} set.}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඟ|iso=n̆ga|ipa=[ᵑɡa]|note=śuddha}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|ch=ඦ|iso=n̆ja|ipa=[ⁿd͡ʒa]|note=miśra{{br}}{{noteTag|name=nja|group=consonants|This letter is not used anywhere, neither in modern nor ancient Sinhala. Its usefulness is unclear, but it forms part of the standard alphabet.<ref name="unicode">{{cite web |title=Unicode Technical Report Number 2 |url=http://unicode.org/reports/tr2.html |website=unicode.org |access-date=2 June 2024}}</ref>}}}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඬ|iso=n̆ḍa|ipa=[ᶯɖa]|note=śuddha}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඳ|iso=n̆da|ipa=[ⁿd̪a]|note=śuddha}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඹ|iso=m̆ba|ipa=[ᵐba]|note=śuddha}}
|}

====Consonant conjuncts====
[[Image:ශ්‍රී (Śrī) in Sinhala with components marked.svg|thumb|right|The [[glyph]] for ''[[shri|śrī]]'', which is composed of the letter ''ś'' with a ligature indicating the ''r'' below and the vowel  ''ī'' marked above. ]]

Certain combinations of letters are written with [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]]. Some graphical conventions include a {{angbr|ර}} ''ra'' following a consonant represented by and inverted arch {{angbr|◌්{{zwj}}ර}} (rakāransaya), a {{angbr|ර}} ''r'' preceding a consonant by a loop above {{angbr|ර්{{zwj}}◌}} (rēpaya), and a {{angbr|ය}}, ''ya'' following a consonant as a half of a ''ya'' {{angbr|්{{zwj}}ය}} on the right (yansaya).{{sfn|Fairbanks|Gair|Silva|1968|p=109}} Some very frequent combinations can be written in one stroke, like {{angbr|ද්{{zwj}}ධ}}, ''ddha'', {{angbr|ක්‍ව}}, ''kwa'' or {{angbr|ක්‍ෂ}}, ''kś''.{{sfnp|Karunatillake|2004|p=xxxi}}{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=8}}{{sfnp|Jayawardena-Moser|2004|p=12}}

Touching letters were used in ancient scriptures but are not used in modern Sinhala. Vowels may be attached to any of the ligatures formed, attaching to the rightmost part of the glyph except for vowels that use the ''kombuva'', where the ''kombuva'' is written before the ligature or cluster and the remainder of the vowel, if any, is attached to the rightmost part.

{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+ Examples of combined letters 
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ය|top=ක්ය|ipa=/kja/|note=''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක‍්‍යො|top=ක්යො|ipa=/kjo/|note=''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ය|top=ග්ය|ipa=/ɡja/|note=''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ර|top=ක්ර |ipa=/kra/|note=''rakāransaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ර|top=ග්ර |ipa=/ɡra/|note=''rakāransaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ය්‍ර|top=ක්ය්ර |ipa=/kjra/|note=''yansaya'' +{{br}}''rakāransaya''}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ය්‍ර|top=ග්ය්ර |ipa=/ɡjra/|note=''yansaya'' +{{br}}''rakāransaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ක|top=ර්ක |ipa=/rka/|note=''rēpaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ග|top=ර්ග |ipa=/rɡa/|note=''rēpaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ක්‍ය|top=ර්ක්ය |ipa=/rkja/|note=''rēpaya'' +{{br}}''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ග්‍ය|top=ර්ග්ය |ipa=/rɡja/|note=''rēpaya'' +{{br}}''yansaya''}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ව|top=ක්ව |ipa=/kwa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ෂ|top=ක්ෂ |ipa=/kʃa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ධ|top=ග්ධ |ipa=/ɡdᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ට්‍ඨ|top=ට්ඨ |ipa=/ʈʈᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ත්‍ථ|top=ත්ථ |ipa=/t̪t̪ᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ත්‍ව|top=ත්ව |ipa=/t̪wa/|note=conjunct}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ද්‍ධ|top=ද්ධ |ipa=/d̪d̪ᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ද්‍ව|top=ද්ව |ipa=/d̪wa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=න්‍ද|top=න්ද |ipa=/nd̪a/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=න්‍ධ|top=න්ධ |ipa=/nd̪ᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ම‍්ම|top=ම්ම |ipa=/mma/|note=touching}}
|}

==Vowels and diacritics==
[[Image:Sinhala-hal-kiriima.svg|thumb|130px|right|The two shapes of the ''hal kirīma'', seen here in a {{angbr|ප්}}, ''p'' (left) and a {{angbr|බ්}}, ''b'' right. The first shape is the most common one, while the second is used for letters ending at the top left corner.
]]Each vowel has two forms, an independent and a [[diacritic]] or vowel stroke ({{langx|si|පිලි|pili}}). The independent form is used when a vowel occurs at the beginning of a word. The diacritic is used when a vowel follows a consonant.

While most diacritics are regular, {{angbr| ු}}, ''u'' and {{angbr| ූ}} ''ū'' take on a different shape when attached to a {{angbr|ක}}, ''ka'', {{angbr|ග}}, ''ga'', {{angbr|ඟ}}, ''n̆ga'', {{angbr|ත}}, ''ta'', {{angbr|භ}}, ''bha'', or {{angbr|ශ}}, ''śa''. E.g.: {{angbr|කු}}, ''ku'', {{angbr|කූ}}, ''kū''.

The inherent vowel of a letter can be removed by a [[virama|hal kirīma]] (◌්), which has two shapes depending on which consonant it attaches to.

Combinations of ර(r) or  ළ(ḷ) with {{angle bracket|u}} have idiosyncratic shapes, viz රු (ru), රූ (rū), ළු (ḷu) and ළූ (ḷū).{{sfnp|Jayawardena-Moser|2004|p=11}} The diacritic used for රු (ru) and රූ (rū) is what is normally used for the {{angle bracket|æ}}, and therefore there are idiosyncratic forms for ''ræ'' and ''rǣ'', viz රැ and රෑ.

===Śuddha vowels===

There are six long and six short ''śuddha'' vowels.

{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+ ''Śuddha'' short vowels, ''hal kirīma'', and {{br}}examples with {{angbr|ක}}, ''ka'' and {{angbr|බ}}, ''ba''.
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=අ|ch2=◌|iso=a|ipa=[a], [ə]|note={{noteTag|name=inherent|group=shortVowels|Since every unmarked consonant carries an inherent ''a'' vowel, there is no need for a diacritic form of {{angbr|අ}}}}.}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඇ|ch2=ැ |iso=æ|ipa=[æ]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඉ| ch2=  ි |iso= i |ipa=[i]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=උ|ch2= ු|iso= u|ipa=[u]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=එ|ch2= ෙ|iso=e|ipa=[e]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඔ| ch2= ො |iso=o|ipa=[o]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch2=◌්|iso=&nbsp;|note=''hal kirīma''{{br}}{{noteTag|name=virama|group=shortVowels|The 'hal kirīma'' has no independent form as it is always attached to a consonant.}}}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක|iso=ka|ipa=[ka], [kə]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කැ|iso=kæ|ipa=[kæ]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කි|iso=ki|ipa=[ki]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කු|iso= ku|ipa=[ku]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෙ|iso=ke|ipa=[ke]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කො|iso=ko|ipa=[ko]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්|iso=k|ipa=[k]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බ|iso=ba|ipa=[ba], [bə]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බැ|iso=bæ|ipa=[bæ]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බි|iso=bi|ipa=[bi]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බු|iso=bu|ipa=[bu]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බෙ|iso=be|ipa=[be]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බො|iso=bo|ipa=[bo]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බ්|iso=b|ipa=[b]}}
|}
{{noteFoot|group=shortVowels}}
{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+ ''Śuddha'' long vowels and {{br}}examples with {{angbr|ක}}, ''ka'' and {{angbr|බ}}, ''ba''.
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ආ|ch2= ා|iso=ā |ipa=[aː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඈ|ch2=ෑ |iso=ǣ|ipa=[æː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඊ|ch2= ී|iso= ī |ipa=[iː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඌ|ch2= ූ |iso= ū |ipa=[uː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඒ| ch2=ේ |iso= ē |ipa=[eː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඕ| ch2= ෝ |iso= ō |ipa=[oː]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කා|iso=kā |ipa=[kaː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෑ|iso=kǣ|ipa=[kæː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කී|iso=kī |ipa=[kiː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කූ|iso=kū |ipa=[kuː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කේ |iso=kē |ipa=[keː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෝ|iso=kō |ipa=[koː]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බා|iso=bā|ipa=[baː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බෑ|iso=bǣ|ipa=[bæː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බී|iso=bī|ipa=[biː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බූ|iso=bū|ipa=[buː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බේ|iso=bē|ipa=[beː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බෝ|iso=bō|ipa=[boː]}}
|}

===Miśra vowels and vocalics===
There are six additional vowel and syllabic consonants in the ''miśra'' alphabet. The two [[diphthong]]s are quite common, while the vocalic ṛ is much rarer, and ḷ is all but obsolete. The latter two are almost exclusively found in loanwords from Sanskrit.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=8}}

The ''miśra'' {{angle bracket|ṛ}} can also be written with ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|r}}+{{angle bracket|u}} or {{angle bracket|u}}+{{angle bracket|r}}, which corresponds to the actual [[pronunciation]]. The ''miśra'' syllabic ḷ can be replaced by ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|l}}+{{angle bracket|i}}.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=14}} Miśra {{angle bracket|au}} is rendered as  ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|awu}}, ''miśra'' {{angle bracket|ai}}  as ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|ayi}}.

{| class="wikitable letters-pink"
|-
|+Miśra vowels and vocalics, and examples with {{angbr|ක}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඍ|ch2=ෘ|iso=r̥|ipa=[ru]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඎ|ch2=ෲ|iso=r̥̄|ipa=[ruː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඓ|ch2=ෛ|iso=ai|ipa=[aj]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඖ|ch2=ෞ|iso=au|ipa=[au]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඏ|ch2=ෟ|iso=l̥|ipa=[li]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඐ|ch2=ෳ|iso=l̥̄|ipa=[liː]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෘ|iso=kru|ipa=[kru]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෲ|iso=krū|ipa=[kruː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෛ|iso=kai|ipa=[kaj]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෞ|iso=kau|ipa=[kau]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෟ|iso=kl̥|ipa=[kli]|note={{noteTag|name=l|group=misravowels|Mainly used in conjunction with another diacritic, {{angbr|ෙ}}}}}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෳ|iso=kl̥̄|ipa=[kliː]|note={{noteTag|name=ll|group=misravowels|Not in contemporary use.}}}}
|}
{{noteFoot|group=misravowels}}

===Other diacritics===
The [[anusvara]] (often called ''binduva'' 'zero') is represented by one small circle {{angbr|◌ං}},{{sfnp|Karunatillake|2004|p=xxxii}} and the [[visarga]] (technically part of the ''miśra'' alphabet) by two {{angbr|◌ඃ}}.

==Letter names==
The Sinhala ''śuddha'' graphemes are named in a uniform way adding ''-yanna'' to the sound produced by the letter, including vocalic diacritics.{{sfnp|Karunatillake|2004|p=xxxii}}{{sfn|Fairbanks|Gair|Silva|1968|p=366}} The name for the letter අ is thus ''ayanna'', for the letter ආ ''āyanna'', for the letter ක ''kayanna'', for the letter කා ''kāyanna'', for the letter කෙ ''keyanna'' and so forth. For letters with ''hal kirīma'', an [[Epenthesis|epenthetic]] ''a'' is added for easier pronunciation: the name for the letter  ක් is ''akyanna''. Another naming convention is to use ''al-'' before a letter with suppressed vowel, thus ''alkayanna''.

Since the extra ''miśra'' letters are phonetically not distinguishable from the ''śuddha'' letters, proceeding in the same way would lead to confusion. Names of ''miśra'' letters are normally made up of the names of two ''śuddha'' letters pronounced as one word. The first one indicates the sound, the second one the shape. For example, the aspirated  ඛ  (kh) is called ''bayanu kayanna''. ''kayanna'' indicates the sound, while ''bayanu'' indicates the shape: ඛ  (kh) is similar in shape to  බ (b) (''bayunu = like bayanna''). Another method is to qualify the ''miśra'' aspirates by ''mahāprāna'' (ඛ: ''mahāprāna kayanna'') and the ''miśra'' retroflexes by ''mūrdhaja'' (ළ: ''mūrdhaja layanna'').

==Numerals==
{{Main|Sinhala numerals}}

Sinhala had its numerals ({{lang|si|Sinhala illakkam}}), which were used from prior to the fall of [[Kandyan Kingdom]] in 1815. They  can be seen primarily in Royal documents and artefacts. Sinhala Illakkam did not have a zero, but did have signs for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 1000.

This system has been replaced by the [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Brigadier (Retd) B. Munasinghe |date=19 September 2004 |title=How ancient Sinhala Brahmi numerals were invented |publisher=[[Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)|Sunday Observer]] |url=https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2004/09/19/fea29.html  |access-date=21 September 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207073829/http://sundayobserver.lk/2004/09/19/fea29.html |archive-date=7 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2006-m12/0127.html |title=Unicode Mail List Archive: Re: Sinhala numerals |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+Sinhala illakkam
|-
|{{letter|note=1|ch= 𑇡 }}
|{{letter|note=2|ch= 𑇢 }}
|{{letter|note=3|ch= 𑇣 }}
|{{letter|note=4|ch= 𑇤 }}
|{{letter|note=5|ch= 𑇥 }}
|{{letter|note=6|ch= 𑇦 }}
|{{letter|note=7|ch= 𑇧 }}
|{{letter|note=8|ch= 𑇨 }}
|{{letter|note=9|ch= 𑇩 }}
|{{letter|note=10|ch= 𑇪 }}
|-
|{{letter|note=20|ch= 𑇫 }}
|{{letter|note=30|ch= 𑇬 }}
|{{letter|note=40|ch= 𑇭 }}
|{{letter|note=50|ch= 𑇮 }}
|{{letter|note=60|ch= 𑇯 }}
|{{letter|note=70|ch= 𑇰 }}
|{{letter|note=80|ch= 𑇱 }}
|{{letter|note=90|ch= 𑇲 }}
|{{letter|note=100|ch= 𑇳 }}
|{{letter|note=1000|ch= 𑇴 }}
|}

===Astrological numbers===
Prior to the fall of Kandyan Kingdom all calculations were carried out using {{lang|si|Sinhala lith illakkam}}. After that event, Sinhala lith illakkam became known as or Sinhala astrological number and were primarily used for writing horoscopes. The tradition of writing degrees and minutes of zodiac signs in lith numbers continued into the 20th century. Unlike the Sinhala illakkam, Sinhala lith illakkam included a 0.

{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+Sinhala lith illakkam
|-
|{{letter|note=0|ch=෦ }}
|{{letter|note=1|ch=෧ }}
|{{letter|note=2|ch=෨ }}
|{{letter|note=3|ch=෩ }}
|{{letter|note=4|ch= ෪}}
|{{letter|note=5|ch=෫ }}
|{{letter|note=6|ch= ෬ }}
|{{letter|note=7|ch=  ෭ }}
|{{letter|note=8|ch= ෮ }}
|{{letter|note=9|ch= ෯ }}
|}

{| class="wikitable letters-black" style="margin-right: 1em" align=left
|-
|{{letter|note=kunddaliya|ch=෴ }}
|}

Neither the [[Sinhala numerals]] nor the Sinhala punctuation  mark ''kunddaliya'' is in general use today, but some use it in social media, Internet messaging and blogs. The kunddaliya was formerly used as a full stop.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhala-digits-number-page.html |title=Old Sinhala Numbers and Digits |publisher=Sinhala Online |author=Roland Russwurm |access-date=23 September 2008 |archive-date=30 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930221515/http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhala-digits-number-page.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{clear}}

==Transliteration==
Sinhala [[transliteration]] (Sinhala: රෝම අකුරින් ලිවීම ''rōma akurin liwīma'', literally "Roman letter writing") can be done in analogy to [[Devanagari transliteration|Devanāgarī transliteration]].

Layman's transliterations in Sri Lanka normally follow neither of these. Vowels are transliterated according to English spelling equivalences, which can yield a variety of spellings for a number of phonemes. {{IPA|/iː/}} for instance can be {{angle bracket|ee}}, {{angle bracket|e}}, {{angle bracket|ea}}, {{angle bracket|i}}, etc.
A transliteration pattern peculiar to Sinhala, and facilitated by the absence of phonemic aspirates, is the use of {{angle bracket|th}} for the [[voiceless dental plosive]], and the use of {{angle bracket|t}} for the [[voiceless retroflex plosive]].
This is presumably because the retroflex plosive {{IPA|/ʈ/}} is perceived the same as the English [[voiceless alveolar plosive|alveolar plosive]] {{IPA|/t/}}, and the Sinhala dental plosive {{IPA|/t̪/}} is equated with the English  [[voiceless dental fricative]] {{IPA|/θ/}}.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=16}} Dental and retroflex voiced plosives are always rendered as {{angle bracket|d}}, though, presumably because {{angle bracket|dh}} is not found as a representation of {{IPAslink|ð}} in English orthography.

==Use for the Pali language==
Many of the oldest Pali manuscript are written in the Sinhala script. The first instance of the Pali [[Tripitaka]] being written down sometime from 29 to 17 BCE occurred in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Winternitz |first1=Maurice |translator1-last=Ketkar |translator1-first=S. |translator2-last=Kohn |translator2-first=H. |title=A History of Indian Literature |date=1933 |publisher=University of Calcutta |page=8 |access-date=2024-08-04 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.10371/page/8/mode/2up }}</ref><ref name="bones">{{cite book |last1=Schopen |first1=Gregory |last2=Lopez |first2=Donald S. Jr. |title=Bones, Stones, And Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, And Texts Of Monastic Buddhism in India |url=https://archive.org/details/bonesstonesbuddh00scho |url-access=limited |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-8248-1748-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bonesstonesbuddh00scho/page/n56 27]}}</ref> At the time, these would have been written in what was still Brahmi script but adapted to palm leaves. Successive copies of Buddhist texts follow the evolution of that version of Brahmi on the island, leading to modern Sinhala.

Many of the {{translit|si|iso|miśra}} consonants are used to represent Pali phonemes that have no Sinhala counterpart, particularly the aspirated consonants. On the other hand, not all {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} set consonants are used; the prenasalised consonants have no counterpart in Pali phonology, and so are not used. Consonant sequences may be combined in ligatures the same way as in Sinhala.

The vowels are a subset of those for writing Sinhala, comprising long and short ''a'', ''i'', and ''u'', short ''e'' and short ''o''.

The {{IAST|niggahīta}} is represented with the sign ං.

As an example, below is the first verse from the Pali [[Dhammapada]] in Sinhala script, along with the corresponding romanization.<ref>{{cite web |title=යමක වර්ගය |url=https://www.thripitakaya.org/sutta/index/21200 |website=ත්‍රිපිටකය |access-date=2024-08-04}}</ref>
	
	
{{Blockquote
	
|text=
	
{{fs interlinear|lang=si|මනොපුබ්‌බඞ්‌ගමා ධම්‌මා, මනොසෙට්‌ඨා මනොමයා;|Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā;|}}
	
{{fs interlinear|lang=si|මනසා චෙ පදුට්‌ඨෙන, භාසති වා කරොති වා;|manasā ce paduṭṭhena bhāsati vā karoti vā;|}}
	
{{fs interlinear|lang=si|තතො නං දුක්‌ඛමන්‌වෙති, චක්‌කංව වහතො පදං.|tato naṁ dukkhamanveti cakkaṁva vahato padaṁ.|}}
	
|title=Yamaka-vaggo 1
	
}}

==Relation to other scripts==
;Similarities
Sinhala is one of the [[Brahmic family|Brahmic scripts]], and thus shares many similarities with other members of the family, such as [[Grantha script|Grantha]], [[Kannada]], [[Malayalam]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Tamil script]] and [[Devanāgarī]]. As a general example, {{IPA|/a/}} is the inherent vowel in all these scripts (except Devanagari, where it is /ə/).{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=408}} Other similarities include the diacritic for {{angle bracket|ai}}, which resembles a doubled {{angle bracket|e}} in all scripts and the diacritic for {{angle bracket|au}} which is composed of preceding {{angle bracket|e}} and following {{angle bracket|ḷ}}.

Likewise, the combination of the diacritics for {{angle bracket|e}} and {{angle bracket|ā}} yields {{angle bracket|o}} in all these scripts.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Comparison of independent and diacritic vowels
|-
! Script 
!e
!ai
!au
!ā
!o
|-class=letters-pink
! Sinhala 
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=එ|ch2= ෙ}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඓ|ch2=ෛ}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඖ|ch2=ෞ}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ආ|ch2= ා}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඔ| ch2=ො}}
|-class=letters-red
! [[Grantha alphabet|Tamil Grantha]]
|{{letter|ch1=𑌏|ch2=𑍇}}
|{{letter|ch1=𑌐|ch2=𑍈}}
|{{letter|ch1=𑌔|ch2=𑍌}}
|{{letter|ch1=𑌆|ch2=𑌾}}
|{{letter|ch1=𑌓|ch2=𑍋}}
|-class=letters-orange
! [[Malayalam alphabet|Malayalam]] 
|{{letter|ch1=എ|ch2= െ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ഐ|ch2=ൈ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ഔ|ch2=ൗ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ആ|ch2=ാ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ഒ|ch2=ൊ}}
|-class=letters-gold
! [[Tamil alphabet|Tamil]]
|{{letter|ch1=எ|ch2=◌ெ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ஐ|ch2=◌ை◌}}
|{{letter|ch1=ஔ|ch2=◌ௌ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ஆ|ch2=◌ா}}
|{{letter|ch1=ஒ|ch2=ொ}}
|-class=letters-green
! [[Bengali alphabet|Bengali]]
|{{letter|ch1=এ|ch2=ে}} 
|{{letter|ch1=ঐ|ch2=ৈ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ঔ|ch2=ৌ}}
|{{letter|ch1=আ|ch2=া}}
|{{letter|ch1=ও|ch2=ো}}
|-class=letters-teal
![[Odia script|Odia]]
|{{letter|ch1=ଏ|ch2=◌େ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ଐ|ch2=ୈ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ଔ|ch2=◌ୌ}}
|{{letter|ch1=ଆ|ch2=◌ା}}
|{{letter|ch1=ଓ|ch2=ୋ}}
|-class=letters-blue
![[Devanagari alphabet|Dēvanāgarī]] 
|{{letter|ch1=ए|ch2=◌े}}
|{{letter|ch1=ऐ|ch2=◌ै}}
|{{letter|ch1=औ|ch2=◌ौ}}
|{{letter|ch1=आ|ch2=◌ा}}
|{{letter|ch1=ओ|ch2=◌ो}}
|}

;Differences
Sinhala alphabet differs from other Indo-Aryan alphabets in that it contains a pair of vowel sounds (U+0DD0 and U+0DD1 in the proposed Unicode Standard) that are unique to it. These are the two vowel sounds that are similar to the two vowel sounds that occur at the beginning of the English words ''at'' (ඇ) and ''ant'' (ඈ).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.isoc.org/inet97/proceedings/E1/E1_3.HTM|title=Trilingual Sinhala-Tamil-English National Web Site of Sri Lanka|date=3 January 2016}}</ref>

==Computer encoding==
[[File:Sinhala language support in Linux.png|thumb|Sinhala language support in [[Linux]]. [[Firefox]] is shown in the background, with [[mlterm]] in the foreground with text having been entered into it by [[Intelligent Input Bus#ibus-m17n|ibus-m17n]].]]
Generally speaking, Sinhala support is less developed than support for Devanāgarī, for instance. A recurring problem is the rendering of diacritics which precede the consonant and diacritic signs which come in different shapes, like the one for {{angle bracket|u}}.

Sinhala support did not come built in with [[Microsoft]] [[Windows XP]], unlike [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Hindi]], but was supported by third-party means such as Keyman by [[SIL International]]. Thereafter, all versions of [[Windows Vista]] and above, including [[Windows 10]] come with Sinhala support by default, and do not require external [[font]]s to be installed to read Sinhala script. ''[[Nirmala UI]]'' is the default Sinhala font in Windows 10. The latest versions of Windows 10 have added support for [[Sinhala Archaic Numbers]] that were not supported by default in previous versions.

For [[macOS]], [[Apple Inc.]] has provided Sinhala font support for versions of macOS that are Catalina and above through [[Unicode]] integration. Keyboard support is available by third-party means such as [[Helakuru]] and [https://www.keyman.com/ Keyman]. In [[Mac OS X]], Sinhala font and keyboard support were provided by [https://web.archive.org/web/20150419024227/http://web.nickshanks.com/typography/ Nickshanks] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20151121062316/http://www.xenotypetech.com/osxSinhala.html Xenotypetech].

For [[Linux]], the [[Intelligent Input Bus|IBus]], and [[Smart Common Input Method|SCIM]] input methods allow the use Sinhala script in applications with support for a number of key maps and techniques such as traditional, phonetic and assisted techniques.<ref>[http://imgur.com/owFIn4z A screenshot showing some of the options]</ref> In addition, newer versions of the [[Android (operating system)|Android]] mobile operating system also support both rendering and input of Sinhala script by default and applications like [[Helakuru]] serve as dedicated keyboard integrators.

===Unicode===
{{Main|Sinhala (Unicode block)}}

Sinhala script was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in September 1999 with the release of version 3.0.
This character allocation has been adopted in Sri Lanka as the [[Technical standard|Standard]] SLS1134.

The main Unicode block for Sinhala is U+0D80–U+0DFF. Another block, [[Sinhala Archaic Numbers]], was added to Unicode in version 7.0.0 in June 2014. Its range is U+111E0–U+111FF.
{{Unicode chart Sinhala}}
{{Unicode chart Sinhala Archaic Numbers}}

==See also==
* [[Sinhala Braille]]
* [[History of Sinhala software]]
* Loanwords
** [[Dutch loanwords in Sinhala]]
** [[English loanwords in Sinhala]]
** [[Portuguese loanwords in Sinhala]]
** [[Tamil loanwords in Sinhala]]

==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book
|last=Coperahewa |first=Sandagomi
|title=Sinhala Akuru Puranaya
|trans-title=Chronicle of Sinhala Letters
|location=Nugegoda
|publisher=Sarasavi
|year=2018}}
*{{cite book
|last=Daniels |first=Peter T. |author-link=Peter T. Daniels
|title=The World's Writing Systems
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|year=1996
|location=Oxford, UK
|chapter=Sinhala alphabet
|isbn=0-19-507993-0
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937}}
*{{cite book
|last1=Fairbanks |first1=G. W. 
|last2=Gair |first2=J. W.
|last3=Silva |first3=M. W. S. D.
|title=Colloquial Sinhalese (Sinhala)
|publisher=South Asia Programm, Cornell University
|year=1968
|location=Ithaca, NY}}
*{{cite book
|last1=Gair |first1=J. W.
|last2=Paolillo |first2=John C.
|title=Sinhala
|publisher=South Asia Programm, Cornell University
|year=1997
|location=München, Newcastle}}
*{{cite book
|last=Geiger |first=Wilhelm
|title=A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language
|publisher=AES Reprint
|year=1995
|location=New Delhi}}
*{{cite book
|last=Jayawardena-Moser |first=Premalatha
|title=Grundwortschatz Singhalesisch – Deutsch
|publisher=Harassowitz
|year=2004
|location=Wiesbaden
|edition=3}}
*{{cite book
|last=Karunatillake |first=W. S.
|title=An Introduction to Spoken Sinhala
|year=1992
|location=Colombo
|edition=[several new editions]}}
*{{cite book
|last=Matzel |first=Klaus
|title=Einführung in die singhalesische Sprache
|publisher=Harrassowitz
|year=1983
|location=Wiesbaden}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sinhala script}}
*[http://www.ceylon-online.com/sinhala_sign_page.html Complete table of consonant-diacritic-combinations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806024953/http://www.ceylon-online.com/sinhala_sign_page.html |date=6 August 2009 }}
* [https://unicodesinhala.com/ Online Sinhala Unicode Writer]
* [http://sinhaladic.com/ Sinhala English Dictionary and Sinhala To Hindi Language Translator]
* [http://groups.google.com/group/Sinhala-Unicode Sinhala Unicode Support Group]

{{Sinhala language}}
{{list of writing systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinhala script}}
[[Category:Sinhala script| ]]
[[Category:Brahmic scripts]]