Sri Lankan English - Main Page

A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English was launched at the British Council in Colombo on 27 November 2007.

New from November 2009: the dictionary is now available online from the Perera Hussein website: www.ph-books.com. See below for details of how to purchase a copy.

Click here to see the Foreword to the dictionary by Prof. Ryhana Raheem, Post Graduate Institute of English, Open University of Sri Lanka.

Click here to see the speech given at the launch by Dr Dushyanthi Mendis, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Colombo.

Click here to see the review for the SLELTA Quarterly by Romola Rassool & Kaushalya Perera, English Language Teaching Unit, University of Kelaniya.

Click here to see the review by Dylan Perera published in the Sunday Times Plus on 2 March 2008. Click here to see the reply by Dilini Algama published on 23 March 2008. Also see the comments by Indi on his blog: http://www.indi.ca/2008/03/sri-lankan-english/

Click here to see other articles published in the press.

Click here to see comments from readers and visitors to this website.


Follow the links below for information on the book, and on other aspects of Sri Lankan English:

Sample pages from the dictionary: a pdf file containing selected extracts from the dictionary.

Updates and corrections: a page containing updates, corrections and new entries. This page will be regularly updated; please contact me if you have any suggestions or feedback which can be included.

An A-Z of Sri Lankan English: a collection of short articles which have appeared in the travelsrilanka magazine and the SLELTA Quarterly. This page will be updated as the articles are published.

Dictionary of photographs: a collection of photographs, ordered alphabetically, showing many items which appear in the dictionary and which are characteristic of Sri Lankan life and culture. This page will also be updated and photographs added on a regular basis.


How to purchase a copy of the dictionary:

The dictionary is available:

- in Sri Lanka (price Rs 1500): in Colombo at Barefoot, Odel, Paradise Road, Gandhara, Makeen, Vijitha Yapa, Sarasavi, MD Gunasena, Lake House, and other bookshops; and in Kandy, Galle and Matara at Vijitha Yapa, Sarasavi, and MD Gunasena. Or contact me to order a copy direct.

- online (price 15 euros inc. postage and packing to any country - payable by credit card): from the Perera Hussein website www.ph-books.com.

- in the UK (price 15 pounds inc. postage and packing within the UK - payable by cheque or bank transfer). Please contact me if you would like to purchase a copy.