id: "Sinh"
name: "Sinhala"
family: "Indic"
summary: "Sinhala (<span class=\'autonym\'>සිංහල</span>) is an Indic abugida, written left-to-right. Used since c. 300 CE in Sri Lanka for the Sinhala language (15 million speakers), for Pali and Sanskrit. The “pure” letter set has 20 consonant and 20 vowel letters, and is used for the sounds of the spoken Sinhala. The “mixed” letter set (18 more consonant letters) is used for correct spelling, which often reflect archaic pronunciations, and for non-Sinhala words and languages. Needs software support for complex text layout (shaping)."