JB launches unique encyclopaedia

By Kalakeerthi EDWIN ARIYADASA

“Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopaedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe, to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come, and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come.”

Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
French Encyclopedist

When a seminal work appears, looking closely at it, does not become a mere routine process, but an earnest mission. Such a creative effort has to be adequately assessed. Its multi-faceted impacts have to be widely probed. It becomes a priority need to alert those would – be beneficiaries, about the profit it could ensure.

The work that elicits this brief preamble is the latest publication by Prof. J.B. Disanayaka titled Encyclopaedia of Sinhala Language and Culture,. It is sui generis in this genre of literary product.

Quality

Anyone, entering into the realm of Prof. JB's encyclopaedia, cannot help but be overwhelmed by the quality and the quantity of well-researched knowledge, he has gathered within the covers of this 774-page-tome. The structure of the work has a scholarly appeal to it. The contents are neatly presented in 25 sections, each containing about ten individual entries. The systematic “Contents” section makes an end-of-the-book index, a redundant item.

What the author performs in this single volume encyclopaedia, is a Paul Revere role. Paul Revere was a heroic patriot of the American colonies, who provided an early warning system to rouse the Minute me(militia of the American colonies) in a move to prevent a surprise attack by the Red-coats (the invading British Soldiers)

In his encyclopaedia, Prof. J.B. Sounds an early warning to protect linguistic values of Sinhala and the uniqueness of Sri Lankan culture, both of which face serious threats. The eloquent undertone of JB's encyclopaedic effort, is distinguished by an emphatic commitment to engender a love of our language and culture, both of which currently seem to be endangered species.

Endangered languages

This is a timely concern even in the global context of our day. Just a decade ago, in June 2002 to be exact, linguists at the University of Manchester in the UK, called urgent attention to the world's endangered languages. Their startling revelations about the fate of human speech are likely to render many people ‘speechless'.

The experts said 50 percent of the world's 6,000 languages, may be extinct by 2050. This implies that, 3,000 world languages will have vanished, by the end of the next 38 years.

At the time of that research, there was a language that was spoken only by three persons.

This was Oro Win, a language of lowland Amazonia. It is quite certain that this language would have passed into oblivion by now. The researchers recorded, that, many were trying at that time, to save the southern Chinese Nushu, “perhaps the world's only language just for women. “Often written on silk screens, one of its popular sayings is: ‘Beside a well one does not thirst. Beside a sister one does not despair.'”

Fortunately, Sinhala is not among the 3,000 languages that will be extinct by 2050. JB's single-volume encyclopaedia is a landmark endeavour, to prevent Sinhala language suffering such a disastrous fate.

Discipline

JB's work is organised to include several distinct departments. Many of its articles are inspired by JB's marked linguistic discipline and take careful note of language use-both at learned and demotic levels. Even when he deals with some abstruse linguistic issues, he never departs from the crucial need to be entertainingly erudite.

In a whole series of entries, the author dwells assiduously on the island, its language and facets of its culture. Some of these essays exude the spirit of definitions. These enable even a total outsider, to enter into the inner arena of our culture, obtaining a satisfactory notion about our language and its intimate links with our complex life-style.

Throughout his single – volume encyclopaedia, the author is preoccupied with various streams of influence, that nourish our central entity – the Sinhala language and its affiliated culture. His series of essays on the dialectical variations of Sinhala, is a sustained study, which can very well serve as source material for several research efforts.

Jargons

The entries on Jargons peculiar to various occupations are, in a way, an extension of the author's exploration of the dialects. One would have appreciated if the encyclopaedia accommodated an entry, on the Jargon of undergraduates, which is a colourful form of living speech, that keeps on evolving from generation to generation.

As a devoted encyclopaedia-buff from childhood on, my admiration for JB's single-volume encyclopaedia keeps on burgeoning.

By opting to adopt the encyclopaedia – format, Prof. JB has quite correctly reflected the intellectual texture of the contemporary world. The free encyclopaedia accessible on-line has transformed a majority of the modern into avidly addicted users of that facility. Julian Assange, has added a sinister dimension to the popularity of encyclopaedia use.

But JB's single-volume is a sober, civilised encyclopaedia, that enshrines a vast mass of information, that has been diligently garnered over a span of several decades.

It is an outcome not only of academically pursued scholarship, but also of a life-times love of this land, its culture and above all its variegated language usages.

Tribute

Writing in 1681, Robert Knox, paid a memorable tribute to our language-Sinhala. In chapter 27 of his “Historical narration of Zeylan”, he said that Sinhala is the sweetest language he has even come upon and that its users are living symbols of politeness and civility.

Rajasekhara, the Indian sage, extolled the beauty of the speech of the dwellers of Ratna Dvipa, (Sri Lanka). But unfortunately, the affection for Sinhala and our indigenous culture, seems to be slackening, over a wide swath of the population of this land.

JB's book should be kept in every home, important institution and in libraries associated with schools, colleges universities and places of worship, to vitalize this flagging love of Sinhala and our culture.

Scrutiny

Each entry in the volume, deserves prolonged scrutiny. But, two special areas have to be focussed upon, with a special interest, those are the entries on the Maldives and the end-essay titled ‘Sri Lanka, the super-nation that was.”

Tracing the Moldavian way of life, he establishes their, if we need a living monument to symbolise the early beginnings of Sinhala language, we should turn to Divehi-the indigenous speech of the Maldivians.

The usages of Divehi, still preserve the early forms of Sinhala. In Sri Lanka, the early forms of our indigenous language underwent, transmutations as we were endlessly exposed to waves of language uses, that came from outside. The Maldives islanders were immune to this and perpetuated the original Sinhala Prakrit forms, with only slight variations. JB traces this evolution, strangely supported by his own research.

The last essay in JB's encyclopaedia, upholds the greatness and the uniqueness of Sri Lankan culture, asserting, that Sri Lanka is the world's greatest land in the field of hydraulic culture. Besides, Sri Lanka possesses a unique system of numerlas, progressing in clusters of twelve. Over and above that, we possessed an indigenous symbol for the zero.

Ancient Sri Lankan has excelled in precision measurements.

To appreciate this closely argued thesis, please approach JB's encyclopaedia. His patriotism is not tarnished by airy rhetoric, but is nourished by solid, provable facts.

Fuelled by his own argument, it is essential to alter, his title for section 25, into “Sri Lanka, the super-nation that was that is and that will be,” (It stands only as” Sri Lanka, the super-nation that was”).

It is usually said Maha Bharata contains everything. Adapting that, one could very well say “JB's encyclopaedia has everything, you can think of about Sinhala and indigenous culture.

I would, of course, yearn for a prolonged concern for language enriching neo-logisms as well, since the expanding culture yields them profusely.

One could not end even a brief note on this work, without drawing attention to the Colophon provided by Dr. Sandagomi Coperahewa, who writes about the author, revealing at times, little known facts about a well-known personality.

At the book-launch, JB presented gift copies of his work to a group of very young children.

This is quite in keeping with encyclopaedist Diderot's view, that an encyclopaedia should ensure that our offspring should be better instructed, enabling them to be more virtuous and happy. Diderot will be happy with JB's gesture.