Water is one of man’s primary needs of humans. Water is a key factor in agriculture as well as for consumption. Throughout history, from the times of ancient kings to future leaders, reservoirs and dams were built to meet the need for water. At present, the Irrigation Department of Sri Lanka and the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka ensure the supply of essential water. Accordingly, water is provided for agriculture, which is one of the country’s basic needs.
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Sri Lanka faces Rs. 237 billion annual burden due to alcohol-related health issues
The Sri Lankan government incurs an annual cost of Rs. 237 billion to address health problems linked to alcohol consumption, highlighting the significant social, economic, and health challenges posed by alcohol, according to the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC).
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Kadugannawa the gateway to Kanda Uda Rata
When the journey towards Kandy is made from Colombo via the A1 road, a delightful scenery is met within Kadugannawa Pass, overlooking the Bible Rock. The grandeur of the view at the vantage point tempts the traveller to pull over and immerse himself with the peace and quiet of the surroundings with corn on the cob or a king coconut.
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Global warming alters bird migratory pattern to Sri Lanka: Dr. Jagath Gunawardana
The effect of climate change on migratory patterns is a further focal point to consider as an assumed 84% of birds listed on the CMS face threats due to global warming, according to environmentalist and lawyer Dr. Jagath Gunawardana.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Toothless laws and inept action hamper leopard conservation
So far this year, six leopards in Sri Lanka have been killed due to human activities. And the count would certainly rise if authorities continue to ignore the gravity of the situation. According to wildlife conservationists, leopards frequent areas like Maskeliya, Ginigathhena, Hatton, Norwood, Bogawanthalawa and Lakshapana. However, these habitats have become threats to leopards with continued snaring. Just a day after the mother leopard in Pussellawa was killed from snaring, a photo of a dog trapped in a snare in an estate near Horton Plains went viral on social media. This technique, referred to as‘pani mula danawa’in Sinhala, is an age-old practice to
Sri Lanka’s vanishing Elephant Corridors
The dry zone is home to a majority of the estimated elephant population of Sri Lanka. This population is scattered in small pockets of habitats as small herds and individual elephants. Efforts to mitigate the human-elephant conflict by conservationists haven’t proven the desired outcomes since most elephant habitats and elephant corridors (also called elephant passes) have been destructed. On the other hand, as many as 16 areas that have been identified as elephant passes are yet to be declared and included in a gazette as authorities are finding it a challenge to convince private investors and humans to move away from areas frequented by elephants.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Tracing the Portuguese Cultural Imprint on Sri Lanka
By Dr Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, FRAS
Way back in 1998, I theorised on the extent of Lusitanisation in Sri Lanka, in my paper entitled ‘The Portuguese Cultural Imprint on Sri Lanka’, published in Lusotopie (Journal of Sorbonne, Paris), de Silva Jayasuriya (2000):
“The Portuguese era marked the end of medieval Sri Lanka and the beginning of modern Sri Lanka. It changed the island's orientation away from India and gave it a unique identity moulded by almost 450 years of Western influence due to the presence of three successive
European powers: the Portuguese (1505-1658), the Dutch (1658-1796) and the British (1796-1948). The Portuguese cultural imprint can be analyzed by examining: (a) those who claim Portuguese descent (the Portuguese Burghers), (b) those who do not claim Portuguese descent but who follow the Roman Catholic faith, (c) those who are neither of Portuguese descent nor follow the Catholic faith but nevertheless underwent a sociocultural transformation. Language is a necessary element in the set of culture. The other elements are subjective and could include religion, food, dress, music and dance.
The interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans led to the evolution of a new language, Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, which flourished as a lingua franca in the island for over three and a half centuries (16th to mid-19th). Pidgins and Creoles are contact languages; they evolve when people who do not speak each other's mother-tongue come into contact. Pidgins only survive as long as the interlingual contact lasts and are generally shortlived. The etymon of Pidgin is business. A Creole is a Pidgin which has become the mother-tongue of a speech community. Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, a subset of Indo-Portuguese (the Portuguese Creole that flourished in coastal India), has been the solution to the inter-communication problems that arose when the Portuguese and Sri Lankans came into contact. In Sri Lanka, miscegenation reinforced the Creole as the mestiços (offspring of a Portuguese father and a Sri Lankan mother) were bilingual – they were proficient in the Creole and Sinhala or Tamil. Boxer (1961: 61) comments that the Eurasians (mestiços), or even slave women, kept alive the use of the Portuguese language in places like Batavia, Malacca and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), which were under Dutch control.” (de Silva Jayasuriya 2000: 253).
Creole Portuguese lost its position as an international lingua franca and gave way to English as the language of external trade and communication. But even during the late nineteenth century, elite Sri Lankans such as John Eaton and William Goonatilleke were fluent in Creole Portuguese which they referred to as ‘Ceylon Portuguese’ (de Silva Jayasuriya, 2015). Although the dynamics of the linguistic landscape marginalised Sri Lanka Portuguese, the Lusitanian legacy can be traced through Portuguese words adopted into Sinhala, Tamil and Sri Lanka Malay (de Silva Jayasuriya 2009; Don Peter 1978; Saldin 2001).
Portuguese words were also adopted by Tamil (Don Peter 1978) and Sri Lanka Malay (Saldin 2001). For example:
Standard Portuguese Sri Lanka Malay Tamil Sinhala Meaning
Ananás nenas annāsi annāsi pineapple
Banco bangku vangu banku(va) bench
Camara kamar marai kāmara(ya) room
Lâmpada lampu lāmpu lāmpu(va) lamp
Renda renda renda renda lace
Sácu saku sakku sākku(va) pocket
Tínta tinta tīntai tīnta ink
Moreover, semantic fields reveal areas of culture contact (de Silva Jayasuriya 2001):
Semantic fields Sinhala Standard Portuguese Meaning
Civil administration abertu(va) aberto vacancy
Judicial administration petsam(a) petição petition
Military structure bayinettu(va) baioneta bayonet
Land administration tōmbu(va) tombo archive/record
Architecture kuluna coluna pillar
Furniture mēsa(ya) mesa table
Cuisine pān pão bread
Dress sāya saia skirt
Religion anju anjo angel
Education iskōla(ya) escola school
Names Pēduru Pedro Peter
Music Kapiriñña Cafrinha Kaffrinha
Flora Pipiñña pepino cucumber
Fauna Būru(va) burro donkey
Social Dādu(va) dado die
Transport Nav(a) nau ship
Portuguese linguistic impressions are in vogue and have not been obliterated by the later Dutch and British waves that washed over the shores of Sri Lanka. The tangible heritage is easier to recognise. But the Portuguese legacy has been remarkably durable in the intangible heritage of the Island’s sociofabric. The most vibrant Portuguese influence is on popular music expressed through the hybridised postcolonial genre chorus baila, generally known as baila (de Silva Jayasuriya, 2013). The Lusitanian legacy is contained within Sri Lanka’s diversity.
Way back in 1998, I theorised on the extent of Lusitanisation in Sri Lanka, in my paper entitled ‘The Portuguese Cultural Imprint on Sri Lanka’, published in Lusotopie (Journal of Sorbonne, Paris), de Silva Jayasuriya (2000):
“The Portuguese era marked the end of medieval Sri Lanka and the beginning of modern Sri Lanka. It changed the island's orientation away from India and gave it a unique identity moulded by almost 450 years of Western influence due to the presence of three successive
European powers: the Portuguese (1505-1658), the Dutch (1658-1796) and the British (1796-1948). The Portuguese cultural imprint can be analyzed by examining: (a) those who claim Portuguese descent (the Portuguese Burghers), (b) those who do not claim Portuguese descent but who follow the Roman Catholic faith, (c) those who are neither of Portuguese descent nor follow the Catholic faith but nevertheless underwent a sociocultural transformation. Language is a necessary element in the set of culture. The other elements are subjective and could include religion, food, dress, music and dance.
The interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans led to the evolution of a new language, Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, which flourished as a lingua franca in the island for over three and a half centuries (16th to mid-19th). Pidgins and Creoles are contact languages; they evolve when people who do not speak each other's mother-tongue come into contact. Pidgins only survive as long as the interlingual contact lasts and are generally shortlived. The etymon of Pidgin is business. A Creole is a Pidgin which has become the mother-tongue of a speech community. Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, a subset of Indo-Portuguese (the Portuguese Creole that flourished in coastal India), has been the solution to the inter-communication problems that arose when the Portuguese and Sri Lankans came into contact. In Sri Lanka, miscegenation reinforced the Creole as the mestiços (offspring of a Portuguese father and a Sri Lankan mother) were bilingual – they were proficient in the Creole and Sinhala or Tamil. Boxer (1961: 61) comments that the Eurasians (mestiços), or even slave women, kept alive the use of the Portuguese language in places like Batavia, Malacca and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), which were under Dutch control.” (de Silva Jayasuriya 2000: 253).
Creole Portuguese lost its position as an international lingua franca and gave way to English as the language of external trade and communication. But even during the late nineteenth century, elite Sri Lankans such as John Eaton and William Goonatilleke were fluent in Creole Portuguese which they referred to as ‘Ceylon Portuguese’ (de Silva Jayasuriya, 2015). Although the dynamics of the linguistic landscape marginalised Sri Lanka Portuguese, the Lusitanian legacy can be traced through Portuguese words adopted into Sinhala, Tamil and Sri Lanka Malay (de Silva Jayasuriya 2009; Don Peter 1978; Saldin 2001).
Portuguese words were also adopted by Tamil (Don Peter 1978) and Sri Lanka Malay (Saldin 2001). For example:
Standard Portuguese Sri Lanka Malay Tamil Sinhala Meaning
Ananás nenas annāsi annāsi pineapple
Banco bangku vangu banku(va) bench
Camara kamar marai kāmara(ya) room
Lâmpada lampu lāmpu lāmpu(va) lamp
Renda renda renda renda lace
Sácu saku sakku sākku(va) pocket
Tínta tinta tīntai tīnta ink
Moreover, semantic fields reveal areas of culture contact (de Silva Jayasuriya 2001):
Semantic fields Sinhala Standard Portuguese Meaning
Civil administration abertu(va) aberto vacancy
Judicial administration petsam(a) petição petition
Military structure bayinettu(va) baioneta bayonet
Land administration tōmbu(va) tombo archive/record
Architecture kuluna coluna pillar
Furniture mēsa(ya) mesa table
Cuisine pān pão bread
Dress sāya saia skirt
Religion anju anjo angel
Education iskōla(ya) escola school
Names Pēduru Pedro Peter
Music Kapiriñña Cafrinha Kaffrinha
Flora Pipiñña pepino cucumber
Fauna Būru(va) burro donkey
Social Dādu(va) dado die
Transport Nav(a) nau ship
Portuguese linguistic impressions are in vogue and have not been obliterated by the later Dutch and British waves that washed over the shores of Sri Lanka. The tangible heritage is easier to recognise. But the Portuguese legacy has been remarkably durable in the intangible heritage of the Island’s sociofabric. The most vibrant Portuguese influence is on popular music expressed through the hybridised postcolonial genre chorus baila, generally known as baila (de Silva Jayasuriya, 2013). The Lusitanian legacy is contained within Sri Lanka’s diversity.
Source: www.island.lk (26 April 2020)
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