The English language, I was thinking earlier this week, is a bit of the pariah tongue, it’s a mix and mash of everything out together and nothing remotely original, sometimes no means yes and yes means no, and sometimes questions are statements when they really are not.
So I genuinely like the English language but it’s a bit of a bastard tongue, I have no problems with it, maybe at one point there was an original language. But then the invaders and defenders and then the conquerors and the conquered all became part of the early British or pre-British empire, which means it was influenced by the Anglo-Saxons, Germanic and Latin languages. Until it has become what it was today.
It is quite interesting to know the history of the language and how it became what it is, or what the basic language from all was, until it was further influenced after the British empire went on conquering and trading with the other countries and then developed certain words that were integrated into it, though some of the root words from old English remain most are now warped or developed according to the time and the use.
What brought my contemplation, who knows, I've been known to pursue strange interests as they strike my fancy, nothing in particular to be sure.
Perhaps because of the history of Sri Lanka, we have a history of occupation by different countries, and how they may have affected us and them alike. The Portuguese, the Dutch and the British had a hand in all that.
So many people would be a tad bitter for the white man who may have come and taken over our lands, all that. I am..strangely enough, not so bitter about the whole thing.
For one, while our little country was in some parts advanced (the magnificent architecture and kingdom building) it was also an Island , that is both the best and the worst part, because while the isolation would have made the country grow and develop, it would still be far behind, if we didn’t have outside influence, maybe I’m a bit of a novice when explaining this, so I will try my best.
Sri Lanka does have a caste system, though it is very much forgotten by the younger generations and not much thought given, these were referred to as Kula. These had more power during the feudal years when the different kingdoms were still in strength, in present times, it is the older generation or the more traditional crowd, mostly from the central province (Kandy and such) and the southern provinces who give a lot of thought to it, I don’t know much about the Northern provinces though I wish I did, as the Kingdom of Jaffna was once a power onto itself, and the eastern provinces too. A list of castes can be found here.
And I have a slight hunch that should we have been allowed to flourish alone and without outside influence that these caste systems might have gotten a tad bit out of hand and the country made more like India and its hopelessness and inability to develop die to its adherence to the caste system and being unable to break free from the rote.
So the invaders did good as well as bad, with their incursions, we learned much, more culture, knowledge, literature, technology, many would say this might also have stunted our growth, but you see Sri Lanka of old wasn’t really a sea-faring exploration happy people, they were content like they are now, maybe its just me, but I would say that Lankans are very much a very relaxed people, who don’t usually go out looking for adventure, except a select few. The furthest we may have gone would be India, Bangladesh, Malaysia/Singapore, etc.…the more closer countries. The trade route helped of course, affectionately termed The Monsoon Marketplace by John Green in one of his crash course episodes.
This is why I’m not very much against the whole thing, there are pros and cons of the whole she-bang, but I’m a glass half-full kind of person, so this is what I think of the whole.
Not that I think that Sri Lankan is useless, my country is a gold mine of culture and marvelous things if you know what you are searching for, we have several literary geniuses, architects, engineers, doctors and all that, I was merely stating, as I will say again..and opinion, my opinion.
Its an interesting topic to be sure, now I feel like I should read up on it more.
I’d like it if my readers left me a comment or their own ideas about their views, its always nice to know what everyone else thinks too.
Till Next Time,
M
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