About Sinhala Language
According to Wikipedia.org, Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language. It is primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people. The language is spoken in Sri Lanka. The Sinhala speakers form the largest ethnic group on the island. It is spoken by around 16 million. Sinhala is the first language by other people in Sri Lanka. The Sinhala script is one of the Brahmic scripts and is closely related to the Kadamba script. Sinhala is the official language of Sri Lanka. The language has played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Sinhala has the closest relatives in the form of the Vedda language. It is spoken by a minority of Sri Lankans. Sinhala origin comes from the Old Sinhala and has borrowed various aspects into the Indo-Aryan substrate. It is also similar to the Maldivian language.
About Odia (Oriya) Language
According to Wikipedia.org, Odia language is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken by 50 million speakers as this language is recognized officially. The Indian constitution is using this language officially for its purposes. Odia is also the official language of Odisha (Oriya) which is a prominent Indian state. This language has several dialects but Mughalbandi (Coastal Odia) happens to be the standard dialect. It is also the official language for education in this state. Odia belongs to the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan family. It is derived from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit. You will be surprised to know that Odia shares a lot of similarities with Bengali. Even the first classic poetry started to shape up with this language. This language is heavily inspired by Dravidian languages. The lexicon is also associated with Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi.
