NEGOMBO LANGUAGE

Negombo in Srilanka is a good holiday destination. This developing fishing port is close to Colombo. Negombo is populated by a number of people belonging to various castes. Negombo language also varies from person to person. Predominating Negombo language is Tamil.

The fishermen of Negombo speak in Tamil language. It can be refered to be the dominating Negombo Language . The fishermen are bilingual. They belong to different castes. These fishermen are basically Roman Catholics in religion. Although one will find a fisherman speaking in Tamil dialect at home but they have a fair fluency in Sinhala language. These fishermen often identify themselves with the Sinhalese. Thus one can say that the Negombo Tamil dialect is also known as the Negombo Fishermen's Tamil. This language has undergone certain changes as it has undergone convergence with the Sinhala language.

The Srilankan Tamils who live in the western Puttalam district of Srilanka are known as Negombo Tamils. The term “Negombo Tamils” signify the dialect of these people. Jaffna Tamils and Batticalao Tamils are the other catagories of Tamils residing in Srilanka.

People of the northeastern province speak Tamil language. However Negombo is not included within that region. It is incorporated within the Gampaha district bordering Puttalam District. This Puttalam District incorporated a good strength of Tamil population. Among them majority was Tamils while minority was Hindus. This was the situation till the first two decades of the last century.

In Negombo there resides a group of people called the Karavas or Karaiyars. They are the fishermen belonging to the bilingual Roman Catholic section. These people's Sinhala dialect is fluent. At their work place as well as at their home they speak in this language. They consider themselves to be the Sinhalese and thus they are converse in Sinhala language with great proficiency. Their dialect is better known as the Karava Tamil dialect. One can also call it the Negombo Fishermen's Tamil. Negombo Fishermen's Tamil is one of the mostly used Negombo Languages.

Negombo language involves a combination of Sinhala as well as Tamil languages. The fishermen who are fluent in Sinhala often speak in native Tamil dialect as well. Thus Negombo Language incorporates both Sinhala and Tamil within its domain.