Name of book: “Maladivian Basa Eda Saha Ada
Author: J. B Disanayaka
Reviewed by Aditha Dissanayake
Some stories have clear-cut beginnings. This story is one of them. Some stories begin with a phone call. This story is no exception.
On a sunny day in September, 41 years ago, the telephone begins to ring at the Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo, probably startling the squirrel on the Asela tree nearby. Prof. Hemapala Wijewardena, the Head of the Department reaches for the phone. After a few minutes of listening, he replaces the receiver and turns to his colleague.
“The Vice Chancellor wants to see us immediately in his office.” The tranquility of the morning is lost. His words hang in the air like an invisible noose threatening gloom and doom. Under the sympathetic gaze of the squirrel, the two professors make their way to the College House, heads bent and worried nothing good can come out of this summons.
If someone had tipped Dan Brown about the conversation behind the closed doors of the Vice Chancellor’s office that day, his fans would be reading a different version of the “Da Vinci Code” today. Thankfully no one knew about the ground-breaking discovery made by the two professors regarding the 12th century copper-plate inscription in the presence of the Vice Chancellor and a mysterious visitor.
But today, in an exclusive expose, Prof. Wijewardena’s colleague reveals how that encounter paved the way for the two scholars to embark on a journey that will eventually result in opening many doors for bookaholics, historians and language enthusiasts.
It is needless to introduce Prof. Wijewardena’s colleague, because for most of us the Sinhala language and the Department of Sinhala at the University of Colombo are synonymous with his name. But here’s the crunch. In his latest publication, Prof. J.B Disanayaka does not write about the Sinhala language. Instead, the professor of Sinhala steers his ship elsewhere and travels to the land of our neighbour to study Divehi in the Divehi Rajje.
Close link with Divehi
Maladivain Basa, Eda saha Ada (Language of the Maldives, then and now) is the culmination of the events that began with the encounter at the VC’s office. Although there is another publication, “Say it in Maldivian (Dhivehi): English-Maldivian Phrase Book and Dictionary” authored by H. A Maniku and J. B. Disanayaka, in 1990, Maladivain Basa, Eda saha Ada is Prof. Disanayaka’s first book for the Sinhala reader, introducing the language of our neighbours and revealing the close link we have with Divehi, culturally, genetically and linguistically.
With infinite freshness and immense skill, Prof Disanayaka, perhaps in the style of the ancient Atthakatha, begins his narrative with the background story, a glimpse of which is given above (a more detailed and luscious account can be found in the opening pages of the book.) Thus, while the details about the Divehi language would interest students and academics of linguistics, the first few chapters provide an interesting and lively account of the two professors’ journey to Maldives and the time they spent there for the benefit of readers, thirsty for a good story.
The pages unravel vivid images of the coral islands situated to the North-West of Sri Lanka and its inhabitants in a manner that resonates with James Michener’s Hawaii and the Tales from the South Pacific. The book is dedicated to H.A. Maniku, the mysterious visitor who heads the expedition to the land of blue seas and blue skies.
Insights into history
The book also provides insights into history. Prof Disanayaka suggests it could be because the group of islands are in the form of a necklace (maalaya) that the Maldives is called Maala divaina in Sinhala. Another interesting suggestion regarding the name Maala divaina presented in the book relates to the arrival of Vijaya as narrated in the Mahavamsa.
The quote from the Vijayavatharana in the Mahavamsa is as follows: “Then did the king cause Vijaya and his followers, seven-hundred men, to be shaven over half the head and put them on a ship and sent them forth upon the sea, and their wives and children also. The men, women, and children sent forth separately landed separately, each (company) upon an island, and they dwelt even there. The island where the children landed was called Naggadipa and the island where the women landed Mahiladipaka.” It is said that some historians believe Mahiladipaka, meaning the island where the women lived, evolved into Mala Divaina in the due course of time.
As well as tracing the history of the Maldives, Prof. Disanayaka also examines the changes in the Divehi language from the past to the present. The book also provides a list of Divehi words and their Sinhala equivalents. Words such as meeha meaning miniha, eke meaning eka and undun meaning udun in Divehi and Sinhala, reveal the close affinities to the Sinhala language. Thus, apart from providing an introduction to Divehi Maladivian Basa, Eda saha Ada can also be of use as a dictionary for Sinhala visitors travelling in the Maldives.
Prof Disanayaka’s book is a triumph. It is rare to find a work of such lucidity and detail about the Divehi language in Sinhala. By the time you reach the last page, you will be yearning to walk on the godudo, enjoying the oi evaru, speaking aadaige Divehi. Aa ehen!