Locale Si 001

Reference data for the Sinhala locale — endonym සිංහල, written in the Sinhala script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: si-001
• ISO 639-1: si
• ISO 639-3: sin
• Script: Sinh (Sinhala)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 18,000,000
• L2 (additional): 2,000,000
• L1+L2 (total): 20,000,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Sinhala. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

• Locale Si Lk (Sinhala (Sri Lanka))

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — n = 0,1 or i = 0 and f = 1 (e.g. 0, 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 2~17, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Sinhala (සිංහල) is an Indo-Aryan language of Sri Lanka, written in the Sinhala script. It has a marked split between formal written Sinhala and colloquial spoken Sinhala. See Locale Si Lk.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Sinhala is subject-object-verb with postpositions. Reorder English sentences.
• The formal written style differs from speech in verb endings and vocabulary. Use the formal written style in official text, documentation, and UI; use the spoken style only in informal marketing.
• Accept established English loans in Sinhala script, and use the Department of Official Languages' glossaries where they exist.

Grammar.

• Nouns are animate or inanimate (not masculine/feminine in the European sense); verbs have different forms for animate and inanimate subjects in the formal style.
• Postpositions and case endings follow nouns.

Register.

• Sinhala pronouns have many levels. "ඔබ" is the polite and neutral "you" for UI and public text; "ඔයා" is informal. Use "ඔබ" consistently.
• UI commands use the polite imperative or infinitive.

Orthography and typography.

• Use Unicode Sinhala with correct ZWJ handling for conjuncts (rakaransaya and yansaya); look-alike characters create errors. The Sri Lanka standard SLS 1134 defines the Sinhala character set.
• Digits: Arabic digits in UI; Sinhala digits (෦-෯) are rare. Currency: rupee (රු). Dates DD/MM/YYYY.

Common pitfalls

• Using the colloquial style in formal text.
• Wrong ZWJ or conjunct sequences.
• Mixing "ඔබ" and "ඔයා".

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Department of Official Languages, Sri Lanka
• SLS 1134 (Sinhala character set), Sri Lanka Standards Institution