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| Monday, 4 October 2004 |
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Please forward your letters to editor@dailynews.lk in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Electronic and print media and the Sinhala language Many letters have appeared in several newspapers recently concerning the damage being caused to the Sinhala language by the media, especially, electronic. This problem was also discussed at a meeting of the independent Group for Language and Literature Studies a few months ago and expressed its concern about the deteriorating situation. It appears that those responsible for this 'murder' of the language especially on television do not pay any heed to constructive criticism or advice from anybody. There are certain hackneyed Sinhala words which are repeatedly spelt and pronounced wrongly on the screen. It is annoying and repulsive to hear these daily. For instance, the word avadanama is spelt and pronounced as avadhanama. One can hear this on all the channels. The tern pradhana (chief, leading) is used where pradana (donations, presentations) has to be used. There seems to be a liking by media men to use as many high sounding terms as possible in their scripts. Samasta (whole, total) is written as samastha; mardanaya (suppression) as mardhanaya; abiyasa (vicinity) as abhiyasa. Even in some teledramas when credits are mentioned several wrongly spelt terms can be seen. For instance, computerized list of names is written as parighanaka namavaliya and niscala is written using wrong letters. These are only a few common mistakes. The worst damage can be seen concerning grammar in news presentation. Very often no agreement is found between the subject and the predicate. The subject is in the accusative case while the predicate is in the nominative case or vice versa. The same applies with regard to singular and plural. October is pronounced as Octhomber with an additional 'm'. The present tense intransitive verb tibenava is normally written as tibe. Now they are writing and reading it as tibeyi as found in the 19th century Sinhala newspapers. Mistakes of this type were not made even by students in the 6th standard in the 1950s and 60s. Every news presentation on all the TV Channels especially on Rupavahini has some words pronounced wrongly and the meaning conveyed by some sentences is confusing. The knowledge of or regard for Sinhala orthography and grammar of these writers and the presenters leaves much to be desired. It should be noted that one of the most important and difficult tasks in electronic media is news presentation. Hence it ought to be done by experienced and knowledgeable persons. In addition, certain commercial advertisements are hilarious. A certain advert for a pain killer drug says.... avadhanamak ganne ayi? (avadanamak wrongly pronounced). In Sinhala we do not take a danger, but in English we take a risk. This appears to be a direct translation of the phrase 'why take a risk?' In Sinhala we either face a risk - avadanamakata munapanava or become a target of a risk - avadanamakata lakvenava. A native herb used for making shampoos etc. is called by a wrong name. A certain English term used for a detergent and also an ice cream product is pronounced in Sinhala conveying a completely different meaning in English and is confusing. This term seems to be well established at present. Some advertisers seem to be taking the populace to be Americans or Europeans and not Sri Lankans. They do not seem to understand who the target consumers are for the product advertised. Some of the above criticism applies equally well in the case of daily and especially weekly Sinhala newspapers. Almost every week these mistakes are pointed out and corrected by certain columns in some newspapers. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be any noteworthy improvement. It is essential that these language errors especially in the electronic media are rectified as early as possible to save our children from adopting wrong usage of Sinhala. That is our concern. Otherwise this generation will comprise people not sufficiently conversant with either Sinhala or English. It is ironical that this situation has arisen years after Sinhala was given 'its due place'. This reflects on our school education as well. TILAK KULARATNE - Dehiwela. My wife and I were in Sri Lanka from September 20-27 as guests from India to attend the National Festival of Art and Culture held there during this time. I have been connected with newspapers all my life and am writing to show my appreciation of the very high standard of 'Daily News,' which we read avidly everyday. Both poems given below record my deep respect for Sri Lankan culture and tradition. Buddha's Tooth
The Kaju Girl
You carry her long in your heart Even though there were a number of Kaju girls on that stretch of the road, we found each one sitting or standing by herself alone - hence the reference to 'solitary.' CHAMAN NAHAL Two of the writer's novels, AZADI (meaning 'Freedom'), and The Boy and the Mountain, written originally in English, are available in Sinhala, both translated by Kusum Disanayaka and published by S. Godage & Brothers. The Colombo Traffic Police have made plans to reduce congestion in the city by making Galle Road and Duplication Road one way. I think the remedy will be worse than the disease. Duplication Road is a commercialized area and there are many offices and business establishments situated along this road. Most of these business places and shops have moved to Duplication Road from Pettah due to the traffic congestion and difficultly in parking in Pettah. Now, if this plan is implemented, the commercial establishments and the customers will be put to great inconvenience again. Galle Road is to be made one way towards Fort from Bambalapitiya Flats to Kollupitiya (3.8 km) and Duplication Road from Liberty Plaza roundabout to Dharmarama Road (4 km) will be one way towards Mt. Lavinia. Police say that cars could be parked along the by lanes connecting Galle Road to Duplication Road. Even now this is happening and it is the overflow from these by lanes that are being parked on Galle Road or Duplication Road. So if all vehicles are to be parked along these by lanes, I can just imagine what chaos it will be. What about the traffic going from Galle Road to Duplication Road and vice versa. If all by lanes are filled with parked cars how are these vehicles travelling. If this operation starts from Moratuwa to Fort or Pettah, then it could be considered feasible. But to implement such a scheme within a short distance of 3.8 km is ridiculous. These changes are being made to improve traffic flows in the city and are expected to have an overall economic benefit by reducing the time wasted by motorists struck in traffic jams. SSP traffic has stated that usually during peak hours it takes at least 25 minutes to go from Bambalapitiya Flats to Kollupitiya junction but after this new arrangement travelling time will be reduced by 10 minutes. So all these major changes are going to make a difference of only 10 minutes. How absurd wasting public funds for a minor change in travelling time, which is infinitesimal. I think the best solution would be to strictly enforce the no parking on Galle Road and Duplication Road on the seaside in the mornings and on the other side in the evenings. I have seen many vehicles breaking this rule presently and the police are not taking any action. Opposite Mahanama College on Duplication Road, school vans are parked on both sides of the road all the time and the police are not taking any action to prosecute or remove these vehicles. Instead of wasting public funds on a useless plan, it is better to put the full force of Traffic Police and prosecute all who park breaking the law. This will save unwanted expenditure at a time when the authorities are finding it hard to make ends meet due to the price increases in the world market. So, it is better for the Police to refrain from bringing in this useless scheme and burdening the Government with extra expenditure in shifting bus stands, and putting up new sign boards, etc. I hope wiser counsel will prevail. These are viable in countries like Bangkok where the roads are broad and there are 8 traffic lanes for each side but not for a country like Sri Lanka with narrow roads. W. AINSLEY - Colombo 3. 'Accident junction' - Kalutara North Traffic Police in a Police Station assumes importance with a separate OIC appointed to head the Unit. Road safety and traffic control is the duty devolving the Traffic Police. The people living at Kalutara North have a long-held grievance on accident-prone junction' on the Galle Road. The ill-fated and notorious junction is the spot where Sri Sumangala Road South meets Galle Road. Deaths, injuries and damage to vehicles are taking place frequently in this junction, where a large number of people cross road night and day. Since children are unsafe nowadays even on the pedestrian crossing, the concerned parents accompany them for their safety, as they feel that any moment a fast moving vehicle could knock anyone down. Heavy road traffic, absence of speed-limiting traffic signs, lack of accident-preventive traffic arrangements are some of the reasons contributing to this unsatisfactory state of affairs. Traffic jams on the road is the order of the day due to delay in road widening and unsafe driving or riding. Some of the motorists involved with accidents pointed out that they drive along this way once in several months and since the road is straight and clear nearly for 1-kilometre stretch, they drive along, hard on the accelerator. They do not see that there is a 4-way junction. In fact at the distance they can see no junction at all. There are also no traffic signs warning for the motorists to slow down. Hence many motorists use the road as a speed track. All these weaknesses, defects and drawbacks heap upon the people, adding a considerable risk in using highway. Road widening at Kalutara North area is erratic and slow moving. The people and the motorists would be happy, if the authorities take action to complete the operation of the stalled program by the Road Development Authority. Speed limit signs and warning signs to slow down could make the motorists more cautious in driving along. If about 150 kilometre distance of Galle Road is divided into two with white double lines allowing traffic to flow one-way only and leaving 25 meters to cover the 4-way junction and 'dead slow-high-alert' section the problem with the junction could be solved. This arrangement also needs marking out a 'no parking' site opposite the restaurant bordering Galle Road and Sri Sumangala Road South. Besides, the motorists and passersby have a right to travel safe on the highway. The authorities whose salaries and perks are provided to them without acrimony at the cost of general public should be obliged to do their best to ensure that roads are safe for people. LIONEL GULAWITA - Kalutara. |
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