Sri Lankan English - Main Page

A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English was launched at the British Council in Colombo on 27 November 2007. See below for details of how to purchase a copy.

... a very useful addition to our knowledge of English world-wide and a fine contribution to the literature of Sri Lanka.
Review by Richard W. Bailey
English World-Wide 31:3 (2010) 354-357


Links:

NEW: Sri Lankan English: an appropriate model for the teaching of English in Sri Lanka? - paper presented at the 9th International Language and Development Conference, Colombo (17 Oct. 2011)

eWAVE: the electronic version of the World Atlas of Varieties of English (open access database comparing the morphosyntactic features of 74 varieties of English): Sri Lankan English page

Sri Lankan English: a distinct South Asian variety: article published in the journal English Today in December 2009

Interview with Michael Meyler by Sanjana Hattotuwa on YATV (broadcast 22 May 2011)

A-Z of Sri Lankan English on the Groundviews website, together with other articles on the subject of Sri Lankan English.


For more information on the book:

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

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

Speech given at the launch by Dr Dushyanthi Mendis, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Colombo.


Reviews, articles, etc.:

Review for the SLELTA Quarterly by Romola Rassool & Kaushalya Perera, English Language Teaching Unit, University of Kelaniya.

Review by Dylan Perera published in the Sunday Times Plus on 2 March 2008.
Reply by Dilini Algama published on 23 March 2008.

Review by Manuka Wijesinghe published in the Sunday Observer on 21 Feb 2010.

Review of this website by Richard Boyle, published in Serendib magazine in March/April 2009.

Other articles published in the press.

Comments from readers and visitors to this website.


Also on this website:

Updates and corrections: updates to the dictionary, corrections and new entries. This page is 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 appeared in the travelsrilanka magazine and the SLELTA Quarterly. A new A-Z of Sri Lankan English is now featured on the Groundviews website, together with other articles on the subject of Sri Lankan English.

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 is updated and photographs added on a regular basis.


How to purchase a copy of the dictionary:

The dictionary is available:

- in Colombo (price Rs 1500): at Barefoot, Odel, Paradise Road, Gandhara and leading bookshops. 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.