The Linguistics Study of the Present Day Vedda Speech

Abstract

Vedda or Vanniyaletto as an aboriginal group of Sri Lanka have survived for several millennia by adapting and coping with internal and external stress imposed on them. At present they are facing pressure that threatens to modernize them which could easily result in disappearing their as an ethnic group. Over ten decades have passed since the time the Seligmanns (1911) did their field work on the culture of the Veddas has been changed considerably. Since then such significant changes create an urgent need for an update investigation in the field of Veddas study. Therefore the intent of this research is to identify the current linguistic situation of Vedda speech based on the current Veddas settlement areas, particularly in Dambana. As this research is a Qualitative Empirical Research, the Participant Observation Method based on Case Study has been used for data elicitation. The findings of this research show that the language contact phenomenon may play major role in the Vedda Language from their history to at present. With regard to language contact situation of Vedda Language, it shows that current Vedda Language has borrowed not only lexical stocks but also sounds, grammar, and meaning from dominant languages, particularly Colloquial Sinhalese. Through the key findings of this research, it is clearly evident that the present day Vedda Language is fast disappearing due to modernization. Finally the result of this research shows that the current Vedda Language became an extreme language mixture due to long time cultural and linguistic assimilation and the language situation is severely endangered.