Compassionate Language Patriotism and a Polyglot Nation on the Rise – By Sheyana La Brooy
Language is never simply about words and conventions. It serves as a vessel to carry forward culture, empowers and gives dignity to its speakers, creates belonging, and strengthens national identity.
In countries with multiple official languages, a model of compassionate language patriotism, combining intercultural understanding, empathy, inclusion, and equitable access to language education can enrich national identity and empower future generations. The languages children learn influence how they understand their identity, their interactions with peers, and how they will engage with the wider world. For those on the global stage, language shapes how a nation presents itself to the world.
Sri Lanka’s linguistic landscape was shaped by British colonial influence from 1796 to 1948, during which English dominated administration, education, and access to power. This created a hierarchy that placed English above local languages, and its legacy endures. As a result, many communities continue to grapple with feelings of linguistic inferiority rooted in the islands long colonial history. Deliberate empowerment and more inclusive language policies strengthens identity and social cohesion, whilst alleviating English being tied to status, intelligence, or opportunity.
Sri Lanka’s transition from English as the official language to a trilingual framework has been long and complex. In 1944, the late President of Sri Lanka His Excellency J. R. Jayewardene, then a member of the State Council, proposed replacing English, spoken at the time by only ten percent of the six‑million population, with Sinhala and Tamil as official languages. He noted that only 6–7% of children had access to English‑medium education, underscoring the inequity of maintaining English as the administrative language. In 1956, the Official Language Act No. 33 (“Sinhala Only Act”) replaced English solely with Sinhala, the language spoken by the majority native Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka. This decision impacted Sri Lanka’s post-independence identity and contributed to strained social cohesion and national security.
Over time, constitutional reforms reflected evolving community sentiment. The Thirteenth Amendment of 1987 recognised both Sinhala and Tamil as official languages, while designating English as the link language. The Sixteenth Amendment in 1988 formalised how Sinhala and Tamil would function across administration, legislation, and the courts, while preserving English’s role as a link language. This framework sought to preserve Sinhala that is endemic to Sri Lanka and spoken by three quarters of the population, whilst recognising the need of the country’s Tamil-speaking minority to remain connected to their culture, especially in regions with a high population of Tamil speakers. It also ensured that English as a link language could promote shared understanding between multilingual Sri Lankans and maintain connections to the world.
The United Nations promotes multilingualism to ensure states can express their ideas, values, and identities in the languages most authentic to them. Whilst English will assist in relating to the world, it is important to remember that it is not a proxy for competence. In international settings, speaking one’s mother tongue signals sovereignty, invites respect, and expresses cultural confidence, without sacrificing clarity, as interpreters exist to bridge linguistic gaps. Effective diplomacy relies on strategy, relationship‑building, and precision, qualities that can be articulated in any language. Recognising this helps ensure that talented voices, subject experts, and community leaders are not excluded or undervalued in national or global arenas, simply because they choose to communicate in their preferred language.
Diverse languages shape daily life, influence access to education, employment, legal services, public institutions, and even basic administrative processes, such as completing birth registration paperwork. Sri Lanka’s population of over twenty‑one million includes speakers of Sinhala (over 75%), Tamil (approximately 18%), and English (approximately 25%). Smaller linguistic communities speak Malay creole, Portuguese creole, and the endangered indigenous Vedda language. Furthermore, as language proficiency determines opportunities and mobility, access to language education on an equitable basis becomes a national priority and a social good.
Sri Lanka has a long tradition of education empowerment. Over two millennia ago, Sanskrit was introduced and taught in Buddhist temples and monastic colleges. In the modern era by 1945, then Education Minister Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara’s Free Education Bill aimed to ensure that all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, could access education. His curriculum reform emphasised emotional, intellectual, and practical development, supporting the holistic well‑being of students. Sri Lanka remains the only South Asian nation offering free education from kindergarten to university and its adult literacy rate, at 92.66% (World Bank 2023), is also the highest in South Asia and exceeds that of many developing countries.
Carrying forward this proud legacy and commitment to empowerment through education requires an intergenerational and multifaceted approach from educators, policymakers, and the community. Addressing barriers to a quality education, in Sinhala and Tamil, with English as the link language, can support healing when accompanied by respectful dialogue and shared understanding between ethnic communities. Increasing the normalised use of official languages in administrative and public settings will empower future generations to embrace multilingualism as part of their national identity. This deepens their understanding of one another, creates national belonging, and fosters confident participation in national and global contexts.
Community leaders and the Sri Lankan diaspora have a significant role to support Sri Lanka in reinforcing globally, the position of Sinhala and Tamil as the nation’s official languages, with English serving as the recognised link language. A link language represents a social compact in a multilingual society, and it should be presented as the bridge it was intended to be, rather than as a marker of superiority or a barrier to advancement.
Compassionate language patriotism takes pride in a country’s multilingual heritage and respects the value of each language, so the nation can flourish by providing a window into the heart of all her peoples. Compassionate language patriotism is also additive rather than subtractive. It encourages investment in Sinhala, Tamil, and English across literature, art, music, performing arts, digital media, and ensuring Sri Lanka’s representation in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and large language models. Through such investments, multilingualism becomes a powerful cultural export, enhancing opportunities and safeguarding language and culture for future generations, whilst affirming Sri Lanka’s shared national identity.
In an era defined by communication and access to information, Sri Lanka’s modelling of compassionate language patriotism can demonstrate how a nation can remain globally connected, whilst fiercely safeguarding its national identity enriched by multilingualism.
