Portuguese & Dutch Influences On The Modern Sinhala Language by Aysha Maryam Cassim From the 16th century onwards, the European colonial powers made a significant cultural impact on many aspects of Sri Lankan culture. Modern Sinhala was influenced immensely by its contact with three European languages, the languages of the colonisers: Portuguese, Dutch, and English. Prior to the Colonial invasions, Ceylon’s strategic location at the southernmost part of the sea routes that connected Asia with the Mediterranean Sea brought in many Arab, Persian, and Indian sailors and merchants. They left an indelible cultural imprint on the country by changing the social, cultural, political, economic, and linguistic outlooks of the country. Abraham Mendis Gunasekara, in his Comprehensive Grammar of the Sinhalese Language (1891) enumerates approximately 400 loan words from Tamil, 231 from Portuguese, 112 from Dutch, and 76 from English. Sannasgala (1976: p. 87) stated that most of the Sinhala words ...