Sinhalese Self-Taught By the Natural Method with Phonetic Pronunciation (Thimm’s System)

This manual is intended to supply a working knowledge of Sinhalese, for the benefit, primarily, of those who have not the time, or, perhaps, the inclination, to master the Grammar of the language, and yet require to use the spoken tongue for business or other purposes. With this object in view, I have compiled the present work mainly on the lines of my Tamil self-taught, with the addition of an outline of the Grammar of Sinhalese, pending the publication of a separate volume of Grammar. This work being designed purely for practical use, the rules and explanations given in the grammar section are scarcely intended for students entering on a scientific investigation of the Sinhalese language. For them a separate grammar and an etymological and historical lexicon founded on the latest results of Prakrit philology are under preparation.