Eḷa, also Elu, Hela or Helu Prakrit, was a Middle Indo-Aryan language or

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

of the 3rd century BCE, that was used in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It was ancestral to the Sinhalese and Dhivehi languages.
R. C. Childers, in the ''Journal of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

'', states: The Pali scholar

Thomas William Rhys Davids Thomas William Rhys Davids (12 May 1843 – 27 December 1922) was a Welsh scholar of the Pāli language and founder of the Pāli Text Society. He took an active part in founding the British Academy and London School for Oriental Studies. Ea ...

refers to Eḷu as "the Prakrit of Ceylon". The Hela Havula are a modern

n literary organization that advocate the use of Eḷu terms over

Sanskritism Sanskritism is a term used to indicate words that are coined out of Sanskrit for modern usage in India, in Sri Lanka and elsewhere or for neologisms. They are often formed as calques of English words.Ganpat Teli, M.Phil"Revisiting the Making of H ...

s. Eḷu is often referred to by modern Sinhalese as ''amisra'', Sanskrit and Sinhalese term for "unmixed". A feature of Eḷu is its preference for short

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

s, loss of aspiration and the reduction of compound consonants found frequently in other Prakrits such as

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Eḷu in comparison with Pali and Sanskrit

Being a Prakrit, Eḷu is closely related to other

such as Pali. Indeed, a very large proportion of Eḷu word-stems are identical in form to Pali. The connections were sufficiently well known that technical terms from Pali and Sanskrit were easily converted into Eḷu by a set of conventional phonological transformations. Because of the prevalence of these transformations, it is not always possible to tell whether a given Eḷu word is a part of the old Prakrit lexicon, or a transformed borrowing from Sanskrit.

Vowels and diphthongs

*Sanskrit ''ai'' and ''au'' always monophthongize to Eḷu ''e'' and ''o'', respectively ::Examples: ''maitrī'' → ''met'', ''auṣadha'' → ''osada'' *Sanskrit ''avi'' becomes Eḷu ''e'' (i.e. ''avi'' → ''ai'' → ''e'') ::Example: ''sthavira'' → ''thera''

Sound changes

* Initial ''ca'' in Sanskrit and Pali becomes ''s'' or ''h'' ::Examples: ''canda'' → ''saⁿda'', ''haⁿda'' * ''P'' if not omitted becomes ''v'' ::Examples: ''rūpa'' → ''ruva'', ''dīpa'' → ''diva'' * The Sanskrit sibilants ''ś'', ''ṣ'', and ''s'' merge as Eḷu ''s'' ::Examples: ''śaraṇa'' → ''saraṇa'', ''doṣa'' → ''dosa'' * The Sanskrit ''kti'' becomes ''ti'' or ''vi'' ::Examples: ''bhakti'' → ''bätiya'', ''shakti'' → ''saviya''

Compound consonants

At the beginning of a word only a single consonant can remain ::Examples: ''dharma'' → ''dahama'' ::Examples: ''prāna'' → ''pana'' In the middle of a word no group may exceed one consonant ::Examples: ''artha'' → ''aruta'' ::Examples: ''danta'' → ''data''

Samples

Tōṇigala Rock Inscription of Śrīmeghavarṇṇa(4th century A.D)

ines 1–2Hail! In the time of the third year after the raising of the umbrella by the great king Sirimekavaṇa Aba son of the great king Mahasena. ines 2–6Two hakaḍas (cartloads) and ten amaṇas of paddy, six amaṇas of udi and ten amaṇas of beans were deposited ith the stipulation that the capital shouldneither be spent nor decreased, by Devaya the son of Sivaya, a member of the Council of Ministers, residing at the village of Kaḍubala, with the assembly of the merchants’ guild at Kaḷahumana ituatedin the northern quarter of the city; and were granted for the purpose of conducting the holy vassa in the new monastery of Yahisapavaya. ines 6–10Of the aforesaid two hakaḍas and ten amaṇas of paddy, the interest at the principal harvest (piṭadaḍa hasa), the interest at the secondary harvest and the interest at the intermediate harvest mount totwenty-five amaṇas of paddy. Of the aforesaid six amaṇas of udi, the interest is one amaṇas and two pekaḍas of udi. Of the aforesaid ten amaṇas of beans, the interest is two amaṇas and two pekaḍas of beans. ines 10–14Of the above-mentioned deposit, the capital should be left unspent and from the interest received, the expenses for two and a half hakaḍas of boiled rice, atarakaja, dishes taken with atarakaja, curd, honey, sweets, sesame, butter (?), salt, green herbs, and turmeric should be given at the refectory of the monastery, . . . ines 14–17 he abovewere granted to the new monastery at Yahisapavata so that the interest may be taken and appropriated for the use of the great community of monks who perform the holy vassa on the twelfth day of the bright half of the month of Nikamaniya in every succeeding rainy season. Thonigala Rock Inscriptions, Anamaduwa under reign of Gamani Abhaya(1st century A.D)

List of Elu words with their Sanskrit and ''Pali'' equivalents