සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාවේ ව්‍යුහය සම්බන්ධ ව කුමාරතුංග මුනිදාසගේ විවේචන පිළිබඳ විමසුමක්

Abstract

A formal structure of an alphabet is the culmi nation of phonological knowledge. Therefore, only an elementary phonologist can make logical criticisms about the structure of a for mal alphabet. Thus, criticism of the structure of an alphabet is a reflection of the knowledge of those phoneticians. Cumaratunga Munidasa, as a phonologist, has criticized the structure of the Sinhala alphabet. They are [æ] [æ:] the two letters should be the initial letters of the Sinhala alphabet, retroflex [Ḷ] must be positioned in the middle of the [R] and [L] as [R] - [Ḷ] - [ L], the Visarga should be taken in the category of fricative and shown as [ʃ] [ʂ] [s] [h] [ɦ]. Par t icularly, attention is given to the question of how Cumarathunga’s views on the order of the Sinhala alphabet contrasted or agreed with the latter placement theory of the Aksharasiksha al phabet. This study helped to understand whether the structure of the Sinhala alphabet should be changed and the nature of Cumaratunga’s pho nology knowledge.