| Languages of Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
 A sign in Sinhala, Tamil and English | |
| Official | Sinhala andTamil |
| Semi-official | English |
| Vernacular | Sri Lankan Tamil dialects,Sri Lankan English,Sri Lanka Malay |
| Minority | Sri Lankan Portuguese creole,Vedda,Arwi |
| Foreign | English |
| Signed | Sri Lankan sign languages |
| Keyboard layout | |
The main languages spoken in Sri Lanka are Sinhala and Tamil. Several languages are spoken inSri Lanka within theIndo-Aryan,Dravidian, andAustronesian[citation needed] families. Sri Lanka accords official status toSinhala andTamil, withEnglish as a recognised language. The languages spoken on the island nation are deeply influenced by the various languages inIndia,Europe andSoutheast Asia.Arab settlers and thecolonial powers ofPortugal, theNetherlands andBritain have also influenced the development of modern languages in Sri Lanka. See below for the most-spoken languages of Sri Lanka.[1]
As per 2016, theSinhala language is mostly spoken by theSinhalese people, who constitute approximately 74.9% of the national population and total about 16.6 million. However, around 92% of the population are able to speak Sinhalese.[2] It uses theSinhala abugida script, which is derived from the ancientBrahmi script. About 300 of theVeddah people, totaling barely 2,500 in 2002,[3] speak theVeddah language, of which the origin is debated. TheTamil language is spoken by nativeSri Lankan Tamils and is also spoken byIndian Tamils of Sri Lanka and by mostSri Lankan Moors. Tamil speakers number around 3.8 million (19% of the population), making it the second largest language in Sri Lanka. There are more than 40,000 speakers of theSri Lankan Malay language.
English in Sri Lanka is fluently spoken by approximately 23.8%[4] of the population, and widely used for official and commercial purposes. It is the native language of approximately 74,000 people, mainly in urban areas. A handful of the 3,400people of Portuguese descent speakSri Lankan Portuguese creole.[5]
