Part 4 - Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon

iiX/VC/-' ift i.
* OS
i- s = M-: 1 ;so;-:'-/.. i :■ o
1 u/*if fiici '■!• .'in '' ii //ii O i» ' . iit*ll
VOL. XXII.] ■ APRIL, 1933. [No. 4.
BY E. H. VAN DER WALL,
One of the most interesting survivals of the Dutch occupation
of Ceylon is the large number of Dutch words which have been
1 incorporated in the Sinhalese language.
Since Western civilisation was introduced to Ceylon by the
Portuguese, the Dutch and the English respectively, it is inevitable
that a large number of words connected with that civilisation
\ should find a place in the Sinhalese language. At the same time
it must not he hastily assumed that the existence of a European
word in the Sinhalese language is proof that such a word desetibes
something previously unknown to the Sinhalese people.
i For instance, the large European window introduced by the
Portuguese is a janella, but there has always been a Sinhalese word
kaulua which means an opening or a hole for ventilation. Similarly,
though shoes were known to the Sinhalese and to othor Asiatic
> races before they came into contact with Western people, it is the
European type of shoe, worn by the Portuguese, which is known
as sapatto.
• Many Portuguese, Dutch and English words spring from com-
** mon roots, so that it is not always easy to refer the derived Sinhaf
lese word to its correct source,
But investigation into these cases is assisted not only by the
form and sound of the Sinhalese derivative, but by historical and
1 other considerations.
For instance, the Sinhalese word bankuva (bench) may be
j derived phonetically either from the Portuguese banco or the Dutch
bank, but here the priority claim lies clearly with the Portuguese.