For the charmed circle of linguistics

Language and Space

Author: Dileep Chandralal

A Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha Publication

345 pp. Price not mentioned

COMING straight to the point Language and Space is not for the ordinary reader. It is a book on the highly technical field of linguistics.

Being a fast changing subject, linguistics has expanded over the years into new branches. For instances, Prof. Dileep Chandralal's Language and Space explores a new area: Cognitive semantics of Sinhala grammatical categories. As far as I know nobody else has ventured to write a book on this area.

According to the author, cognitive linguistics has grown into one of the most fascinating fields in linguistics and cognitive science, offering a radical alternative to mainstream linguistic theories.

He says, "It maintains that linguistic meaning does not represent external reality directly but equates with speakers' conceptualization of it."

Sometimes ordinary readers may wonder what linguists are doing. They are not old school grammarians because their approach is descriptive and not prescriptive.

In other words they are more interested in what is said than what ought to be said. Unlike grammarians they do not prescribe rules to follow.

Language and Space appears to be an academic attempt to come up with the inter-relationship between the "category of space and the case categories in language. For this the author has selected Sinhala for his semantically oriented study.

Being a less formalised language structure, Sinhala offers the linguist many avenues of exploration. Prof. Chandralal has capitalized on this facility and has researched the case distributions and developments at linguistic level.

Prof. Dileep Chandralal is Professor of Language and Communication at Okinawa University, Japan, where he has served as Head of Department of International Communication for the past two years.

Language and Space will appeal to those who are interested in the cognitive foundations of language.

- R. S. Karunaratne

Focus on Theravada Buddhism in China

Cheena Theravada Budu Samaya

Author: Dr. How Che Min

Publisher - Lung Hua Publications

7, Balahenamulla Lane, Kirulapana, Colombo 6.

THE author Dr. How Che Min is a master of the Sinhala language. He is attached to the Linguistics Dept. of the Kelaniya University. He has done research in a field untouched by other scholars.

Scholars outside China are not even aware that Theravada Buddhism prevails in Yunan province of China and its adjacent territories bordering Siam, Burma, Cambodia, Laos - the traditional Theravada countries.

No book, Encyclopedia, or source of information available to us mentions the existence of Theravada Buddhism in China with Pali scriptures, monks, nuns and the rites and ceremonies we have here.

All that the books available to, us tell is that China is a Mahayanist country with various forms of Mahayana.

In this book the author gives details of the Theravada Buddhism prevailing in Unan province and its environs. He mentions the Pali canonical texts used by the monks who inhabit Yunan and the region known as Sipsunpanna where the people are men of Siamese descent.

According to statistics furnished in 1991 by the Buddhist Society of Yunan, there are 236,830 Theravada Buddhists comprising 44,824 families. There are 45,561 Buddhist monks and 526 temples.

The region known as Sipsunpanna is the area with the largest number of Theravada Buddhists. This is an autonomous region of China with an area of 19,000 kilometres. Yunan became a province of China in the 13th century.

The author has visited Yunan province and its Theravada temples, monasteries, and Nunneries to get material for this book.

This book comprises five chapters Viz: 1 The pre-Buddhist Age, 2. Introduction of Buddhism and its expansion, 3. Buddhism and Siamese social elements, 4. Buddhist Heritage of the Thai settlers, 5. Siamese Buddhist Literature and Arts.

There are eight colour photographs which illustrate the contents of this book. They are:

1. Theravada Buddhist monks chanting texts (Pirith) and Theravada monk preaching "Mataka bana" to transfer merit to a deceased Buddhist; Women devotees observing 'Sil' on a Poya day; Appointing a prelate at a monastery; The "Poyage" (Chapter House) in a monastery; A Theravada Chinese Stupa; Alms-giving at a Vas-pinkama and a monk writing on ola-leaves.

A perusal of this book incorporating the findings of original research should help to dispel the prevalent fallacy among us that China is completely a Mahayana Buddhist country, and the Theravada form of Buddhism is totally absent there.

In the past some obscurantist monks opposing the revival of the Bhikkuni Order with the assistance of Chinese nuns used the argument that China is a Mahayana Buddhist country and that we should not mix our Theravada Buddhism with their Mahayana.

This contention will now prove to be a hollow one based on ignorance and prejudice. Dr. How Che Min should be thanked for clearing this misunderstanding and shedding light in an area in which darkness prevailed.

- D. Amarasiri Weeratne

Samaya - The Deaf Baby Elephant

A Sarvodaya

Vishva Lekha Publication

Rs. 160

Story - Tineke de Silva - NIJKAMP with Drawings by Inrid Maters orginally written in Dutch - with English translation by the author herself and Sinhala translation by Piyasena Wickramage.

Hearing impairment in infants and children is a serious concern, because it interferes with the development of language. The harmful effects of childhood hearing impairment are given little thought by many people, because it is largely an invisible handicap.

The story in this book is to make children and adults aware of this invisible handicap in a creative way. The child with a hearing loss has communication problems. It is therefore very essential that the child gets speech therapy in an early stage.

When a child is born deaf, it is necessary to learn the sign language to express their thoughts and to communicate with others.

Only then a deaf born child can develop its skills and can get educated.

The Sinhala translation of this book has been done by Piyasena Wickramage.

He is the adaptor of several English children's stories into Sinhala. Oscar Wilde's 'The Selfish Giant' was his first adaptation; including 'How the Cat Who went to Heaven' a Chinese Legend, the other two being 'First Day at Library' and 'The Dairy Farm in Village'.

The writer of this book is the founder and principal of Sarvodaya Sawan Sahana Sewa, Dr. Reijntjes School for the Deaf, 14/2, Andiris de Silva Mawatha, Rawatawatta, Moratuwa.

Guide on education in Sri Lanka

NEPTUNE Publications has published a comprehensive guide on education in Sri Lanka in association with JobsNet - the National Employment Sourcing and Delivery System.

The book comprises information with regard to the what, when, where and how of education in the country. JobsNet recognizing the importance of access to information relating to education and training in order to develop a competitive workforce for Sri Lanka supported the publication of the useful guide. Knowledge, skills and training are important.

Therefore the book covers areas from kindergarten to tertiary and vocational education and other supporting mechanisms of both the government and the private sector.

The guide is also available through a web portal, for on-line reference, which can be reached through www.jobsnet.lk.

The guide is written in a manner, which allows one to seek alternative schools and colleges for education, find out different vocational, technical, professional courses on offer and also touches on the area of education and training for the special child, in a separate section. The guide would be useful also for Sri Lankans based overseas.

Americave Kasavatha

BHADRAJI Mahinda Jayatilleke's latest book Americave Kasavatha will be launched at Dharma Vijaya Bauddha Vihara in Los Angeles, the United States of America at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 16.

Americave Kasavatha is the Sinhala translation of Ven Dr. Walpola Piyananda Thera's Saffron Days in L.A.

The launching ceremony will be presided over by Ven. Dr. Walpola Piyananda Thera. Publisher Dayawansa Jayakody will also participate.