His work is issued to meet the needs of those who require a fairly complete but medium-sized Dictionary. The Pocket Dictionary generally known as Nicholson’s, issued in 1895 after having been almost entirely re-written and carefully revised by the Rev. J. Simon de Silva, B.A., has been taken as a basis. Clough’s and Carter’s Dictionaries have often been referred to, especially the latter, which will doubtless remain for a generation to come the dictionary of the Sinhalese language. The accents have been retained in this edition as in the smaller work. It has not been easy, however, to preserve a uniform accentuation. A much greater difficulty has been the orthography, as no fixed method of writing has yet been agreed upon by scholars. Uniformity of spelling is greatly to be desired. The compiler feels that he has been at a disadvantage in not having been able personally to see the work through the press; but he trusts that errors will be found neither many nor serious. He is greatly indebted to the Rev. T. Moscrop who has given the work oversight and carefully revised most of the proofs.
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