A Comparative Study of Word Order in Spoken Sinhala and English at the Clause Level

Abstract

This comparative study focuses on the word order in Sinhalese and in English particularly at the clause level. A clause is a word or a group of words ordinarily consisting of a subject and a predicate, although in some languages and in some types of clauses, the subject may not appear explicitly. (This is especially common in null subject languages). The most basic kind of sentence consists of a single clause; more complicated sentences may contain multiple clauses. Indeed, it is possible for one clause to contain another. Though the comparative study of word order in Sinhala and English is so important in the path of understanding the universal features of two languages, hardly any research effort has so far been taken in the field of linguistics. However, a great deal of researches is found involving English word order and several European and Asian Languages but there is no such a study concerning Sinhala and English and also the importance of such a study. In the present study the word order of both languages has been analyzed separately and compared throughout.The data for spoken Sinhala presented here is drawn form several native speakers. Being a non-native speaker of English, the researcher of this survey have drawn examples for English from native samples. The findings of the study indicate that the word order within the clauses in both languages is rigid. But it is always not true in the order of clauses at the sentence level. This study will serve to bring out the peculiarities of the two languages. Further it will show us better equipments for establishing translation rules between English and Sinhala. This comparison will definitely uplifts the knowledge in two languages and more importantly contribute to the field of translation where two languages are involved is therefore going to be of some practical use.