Editing Sinhala script (section)

==Structure==
[[Image:Sinhala letter "ක" (ka) combinations example.svg|right|thumb|The basic form of the letter k is ක "ka". For "ki", a small arch called ''ispilla'' is placed over the ක: කි. This replaces the inherent {{IPA|/a/}} by {{IPA|/i/|cat=no}}. It is also possible to have no vowel following a consonant. In order to produce such a pure consonant, a special marker, the ''hal kirīma'' has to be added: ක්. This marker suppresses the inherent vowel.]]

Sinhala script is an [[abugida]] written from left to right. It uses [[consonant]]s as the basic unit for word construction as each consonant has an [[inherent vowel]] ({{IPA|/a/}}), which can be changed with a different vowel stroke. To represent different sounds it is necessary to add vowel strokes, or diacritics called {{lang|si|පිලි}} (Pili), that can be used before, after, above, or below the base-consonant. Most of the Sinhala letters are [[curlicue]]s; straight lines are almost completely absent from the alphabet, and it does not have joining characters. This is because Sinhala used to be written on [[Palm leaf manuscript|dried palm leaves]], which would split along the veins on writing straight lines. This was undesirable, and therefore, the round shapes were preferred. Upper and lower cases do not exist in Sinhala.<ref name="Dalton">{{cite web |title=The Sinhala Script |url=https://blog.daltonmaag.com/tag/non-latin-fonts/ |website=Dalton Maag |access-date=26 August 2018 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826150426/https://blog.daltonmaag.com/tag/non-latin-fonts/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Sinhala letters are ordered into two sets. The core set of letters forms the pure Sinhala ({{langx|si|ශුද්ධ සිංහල|śuddha siṃhala}} alphabet, which is a subset of the mixed Sinhala {{langx|si|මිශ්‍ර සිංහල|miśra siṃhala}} alphabet . The definition of the two sets is thus a historic one. The śuddha alphabet, also called the Eḷu alphabet ({{langx|si|එළු හෝඩිය|Eḷu hōdiya}}), contains everything necessary to write [[Eḷu]], or classical Sinhala, as described in the classical grammar Sidatsan̆garā (1300 AD).{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}} The śuddha alphabet is also a good representation of the phoneme inventory of present-day colloquial Sinhala;{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}} all native sounds of the Modern Sinhala can be represented by ''{{IAST|śuddha}}''. The ''śuddha'' also includes the letters and diacritics for the [[retroflex consonants]] {{angle bracket|ḷ}} and {{angle bracket|ṇ}}, which are not phonemic in modern Sinhala but are needed for the representation of Eḷu. However, words which historically contained these two phonemes are still often written with these letters, despite changes in pronunciation.

The {{lang|si|{{IAST|miśra siṃhala}}}} alphabet includes letters for [[Middle Indic]] [[aspirated consonant|aspirate]], [[retroflex]] and [[sibilant]] consonants which are not found in modern Sinhala, but are used in the transcription of are used for transcribing [[loanword]]s from Sanskrit ([[tatsama]]), Pali or [[Sinhalese words of English Origin|English]].  Although modern Sinhala sounds are not aspirated, aspiration is marked in the sound where it was historically present, to highlight the differences in modern spelling. The use of {{lang|si|{{IAST|miśra siṃhala}}}} letters is mainly a question of prestige. From a purely phonemic point of view, their sounds can all be represented by ''śuddha'' letters.{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}}

Although most phonemes of Sinhala can be represented by a ''śuddha'' letter or by a ''miśra'' letter, normally only one of them is considered correct. Additionally, the ''śuddha'' set itself contains both {{angle bracket|ḷ}} and {{angle bracket|l}}, as well as {{angle bracket|ṇ}} and {{angle bracket|n}}, and neither pair is distinctive in Modern sinhala. This one-to-many mapping of phonemes onto graphemes is a frequent source of misspellings.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|pp=15, 17-18}}

While a phoneme can be represented by more than one grapheme, each grapheme can be pronounced in only one way, with the exceptions of the inherent vowel sound, which can be either {{IPA|[a]}} (stressed) or {{IPA|[ə]}} (unstressed), and "ව" where the consonant is either {{IPA|[v]}} or {{IPA|[w]}} depending on the word. This means that the actual [[pronunciation]] of a word is almost always clear from its spelling. Stress is almost always predictable; only words with {{IPA|[v]}} or {{IPA|[w]}} (which are both allophones of "ව"), and a very few other words need to be learnt individually.

===Consonants=== 
The {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} alphabet includes eight [[plosive]]s, two [[fricative]]s, two [[affricate]]s, two [[nasal stop|nasals]], two [[liquid consonant|liquids]] and two [[semivowel|glides]]. As in other [[Brahmic scripts]], each consonant carries an [[inherent vowel]], which in Sinhala is {{IPA|/a/}}.

{|class="wikitable letters letters-table"
|+ Śuddha and miśra consonants<ref name="omniglot">{{cite web |title=Sinhala (සිංහල)    |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/sinhala.htm |website=www.omniglot.com |publisher=Simon Ager |access-date=4 August 2024}}</ref>{{noteTag|group=consonants|Letters in black belong to the {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} set, while letters in pink belong to the {{translit|si|iso|miśra}} set.}}
|- 
| rowspan=2|
! colspan=2|Unvoiced
! colspan=2|Voiced
! rowspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
! rowspan=2|[[Approximant]]
! rowspan=2|[[Sibilant]]
! rowspan=2|[[Fricative]]
! rowspan=2|Other
|-
! Inaspirate
! Aspirated
! Inaspirate
! Aspirate
|-
! scope=row | [[velar consonant|velar]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ක|iso=ka|ipa=[ka]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඛ|iso=kha|ipa=[ka]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ග|iso=ga|ipa=[ga]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඝ|iso=gha|ipa=[ga]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඞ|iso=ṅa|ipa=[ŋa]}}
|
|
|{{letter|l=si|note=śuddha|ch=හ|iso=ha|ipa=[ɦa]}}
|
|-
! scope=row | [[palatal consonant|palatal]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha {{noteTag|name=ca|group=consonants|The voiceless affricate (ච {{IPA|[t͡ʃa]}}) is not included in the ''śuddha'' set by purists since it does not occur in the main text of the Sidatsan̆garā. The Sidatsan̆garā does use it in examples though, so this sound did exist in Eḷu. In any case, it is needed for the representation of modern Sinhala.{{sfnp|Gair|Paolillo|1997}}}}|ch=ච|iso=ca|ipa=[tʃa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඡ|iso=cha|ipa=[tʃa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ජ|iso=ja|ipa=[dʒa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඣ|iso=jha|ipa=[dʒa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඤ|iso=ñ|ipa=[ɲa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ය|iso=ya|ipa=[ja]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ශ|iso=śa|ipa=[ʃa]}}
|
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඥ|iso=jña|ipa=[d͡ʒɲa]}}
|-
! scope=row | [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ට|iso=ṭa|ipa=[ʈa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඨ|iso=ṭha|ipa=[ʈa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ඩ|iso=ḍa|ipa=[ɖa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඪ|iso=ḍha|ipa=[ɖa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha {{noteTag|name=ell}}|ch=ණ|iso=ṇa|ipa=[ɳa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ර|iso=ra|ipa=[ra]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ෂ|iso=ṣa|ipa=[ʃa]}}
|
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha {{noteTag|name=ell|group=consonants|The retroflex sounds /ɭ/ and /ɳ/, are no longer phonemic in modern Sinhala, but the letters {{angbr|ළ}} and {{angbr|ණ}} are still included in the śuddha set. Retroflex pronunciations can be found in historic speech.}}|ch=ළ|iso=ḷa|ipa=[ɭa]}}
|-
! scope=row | [[dental consonant|dental]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ත|iso=ta|ipa=[ta]}} 
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ථ|iso=tha|ipa=[ta]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ද|iso=da|ipa=[da]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ධ|iso=dha|ipa=[da]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=න|iso=na|ipa=[na]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ල|iso=la|ipa=[la]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ස|iso=sa|ipa=[sa]}}	
|
|
|-
! scope=row | [[labial consonant|labial]]
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ප|iso=pa|ipa=[pa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ඵ|iso=pha|ipa=[pa]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=බ|iso=ba|ipa=[ba]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=භ|iso=bha|ipa=[ba]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ම|iso=ma|ipa=[ma]}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|note=śuddha|ch=ව|iso=va/wa|ipa=[ʋa]}}
|
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|note=miśra|ch=ෆ|iso=fa|ipa=[f]}}
|
|}
{{noteFoot|group=consonants}}

====Prenasalization====
The [[prenasalized consonant]]s resemble their plain counterparts. {{angbr|ඹ}}, ''m̆ba'' is made up of the left half of {{angbr|ම}} ''ma'' and the right half of {{angbr|බ}} ''ba'', while the other three are just like the grapheme for the plosive with a little stroke added.{{sfn|Fairbanks|Gair|Silva|1968|p=126}} Vowel diacritics attach to a prenasalised consonant in the same way as they would to the corresponding plain plosives.

{| class="wikitable letters"
|+ Prenasalized consonants{{noteTag|group=consonants|Letters in black belong to the {{translit|si|iso|śuddha}} set, while letters in pink belong to the {{translit|si|iso|miśra}} set.}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඟ|iso=n̆ga|ipa=[ᵑɡa]|note=śuddha}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=pink|ch=ඦ|iso=n̆ja|ipa=[ⁿd͡ʒa]|note=miśra{{br}}{{noteTag|name=nja|group=consonants|This letter is not used anywhere, neither in modern nor ancient Sinhala. Its usefulness is unclear, but it forms part of the standard alphabet.<ref name="unicode">{{cite web |title=Unicode Technical Report Number 2 |url=http://unicode.org/reports/tr2.html |website=unicode.org |access-date=2 June 2024}}</ref>}}}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඬ|iso=n̆ḍa|ipa=[ᶯɖa]|note=śuddha}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඳ|iso=n̆da|ipa=[ⁿd̪a]|note=śuddha}}
|{{letter|l=si|color=black|ch=ඹ|iso=m̆ba|ipa=[ᵐba]|note=śuddha}}
|}

====Consonant conjuncts====
[[Image:ශ්‍රී (Śrī) in Sinhala with components marked.svg|thumb|right|The [[glyph]] for ''[[shri|śrī]]'', which is composed of the letter ''ś'' with a ligature indicating the ''r'' below and the vowel  ''ī'' marked above. ]]

Certain combinations of letters are written with [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]]. Some graphical conventions include a {{angbr|ර}} ''ra'' following a consonant represented by and inverted arch {{angbr|◌්{{zwj}}ර}} (rakāransaya), a {{angbr|ර}} ''r'' preceding a consonant by a loop above {{angbr|ර්{{zwj}}◌}} (rēpaya), and a {{angbr|ය}}, ''ya'' following a consonant as a half of a ''ya'' {{angbr|්{{zwj}}ය}} on the right (yansaya.{{sfn|Fairbanks|Gair|Silva|1968|p=109}} Some very frequent combinations can be written in one stroke, like {{angbr|ද්{{zwj}}ධ}}, ''ddha'', {{angbr|ක්‍ව}}, ''kwa'' or {{angbr|ක්‍ෂ}}, ''kś''.{{sfnp|Karunatillake|2004|p=xxxi}}{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=8}}{{sfnp|Jayawardena-Moser|2004|p=12}}

Touching letters were used in ancient scriptures but are not used in modern Sinhala. Vowels may be attached to any of the ligatures formed, attaching to the rightmost part of the glyph except for vowels that use the ''kombuva'', where the ''kombuva'' is written before the ligature or cluster and the remainder of the vowel, if any, is attached to the rightmost part.

{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+ Examples of combined letters 
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ය|top=ක්ය|ipa=/kja/|note=''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක‍්‍යො|top=ක්යො|ipa=/kjo/|note=''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ය|top=ග්ය|ipa=/ɡja/|note=''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ර|top=ක්ර |ipa=/kra/|note=''rakāransaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ර|top=ග්ර |ipa=/ɡra/|note=''rakāransaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ය්‍ර|top=ක්ය්ර |ipa=/kjra/|note=''yansaya'' +{{br}}''rakāransaya''}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ය්‍ර|top=ග්ය්ර |ipa=/ɡjra/|note=''yansaya'' +{{br}}''rakāransaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ක|top=ර්ක |ipa=/rka/|note=''rēpaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ග|top=ර්ග |ipa=/rɡa/|note=''rēpaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ක්‍ය|top=ර්ක්ය |ipa=/rkja/|note=''rēpaya'' +{{br}}''yansaya''}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ර්‍ග්‍ය|top=ර්ග්ය |ipa=/rɡja/|note=''rēpaya'' +{{br}}''yansaya''}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ව|top=ක්ව |ipa=/kwa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්‍ෂ|top=ක්ෂ |ipa=/kʃa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ග්‍ධ|top=ග්ධ |ipa=/ɡdᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ට්‍ඨ|top=ට්ඨ |ipa=/ʈʈᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ත්‍ථ|top=ත්ථ |ipa=/t̪t̪ᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ත්‍ව|top=ත්ව |ipa=/t̪wa/|note=conjunct}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ද්‍ධ|top=ද්ධ |ipa=/d̪d̪ᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ද්‍ව|top=ද්ව |ipa=/d̪wa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=න්‍ද|top=න්ද |ipa=/nd̪a/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=න්‍ධ|top=න්ධ |ipa=/nd̪ᵊa/|note=conjunct}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ම‍්ම|top=ම්ම |ipa=/mma/|note=touching}}
|}