Eḷa, also Elu, Hela or Helu Prakrit, was a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of the 3rd century BCE, that was used in Sri Lanka. It was ancestral to the Sinhalese and Dhivehi languages.<br /> R. C. Childers, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, states: The Pali scholar Thomas William Rhys Davids refers to Eḷu as "the Prakrit of Ceylon".
The Hela Havula are a modern Sri Lankan literary organisation that advocate the use of Eḷu terms over Sanskritisms. Eḷu is often referred to by modern Sinhalese as amisra, Sanskrit and Sinhalese term for "unmixed".
A feature of Eḷu is its preference for short vowels, loss of aspiration and the reduction of compound consonants found frequently in other Prakrits such as Pali.
Being a Prakrit, Eḷu is closely related to other Prakrit such as Pali. Indeed, a very large proportion of Eḷu word-stems are identical in form to Pali. The connections were sufficiently well known that technical terms from Pali and Sanskrit were easily converted into Eḷu by a set of conventional phonological transformations. Because of the prevalence of these transformations, it is not always possible to tell whether a given Eḷu word is a part of the old Prakrit lexicon, or a transformed borrowing from Sanskrit.
At the beginning of a word only a single consonant can remain
In the middle of a word no group may exceed one consonant
[Lines 1âÂÂ2] Hail! In the time of the third year after the raising of the umbrella by the great king Sirimekavaá¹Âa Aba son of the great king Mahasena.
[Lines 2âÂÂ6] Two hakaá¸Âas (cartloads) and ten amaá¹Âas of paddy, six amaá¹Âas of udi and ten amaá¹Âas of beans were deposited [with the stipulation that the capital should] neither be spent nor decreased, by Devaya the son of Sivaya, a member of the Council of Ministers, residing at the village of Kaá¸Âubala, with the assembly of the merchantsâ guild at Kaḷahumana [situated] in the northern quarter of the city; and were granted for the purpose of conducting the holy vassa in the new monastery of Yahisapavaya.
[Lines 6âÂÂ10] Of the aforesaid two hakaá¸Âas and ten amaá¹Âas of paddy, the interest at the principal harvest (piá¹Âadaá¸Âa hasa), the interest at the secondary harvest and the interest at the intermediate harvest [amount to] twenty-five amaá¹Âas of paddy. Of the aforesaid six amaá¹Âas of udi, the interest is one amaá¹Âas and two pekaá¸Âas of udi. Of the aforesaid ten amaá¹Âas of beans, the interest is two amaá¹Âas and two pekaá¸Âas of beans.
[Lines 10âÂÂ14] Of the above-mentioned deposit, the capital should be left unspent and from the interest received, the expenses for two and a half hakaá¸Âas of boiled rice, atarakaja, dishes taken with atarakaja, curd, honey, sweets, sesame, butter (?), salt, green herbs, and turmeric should be given at the refectory of the monastery, . . .
[Lines 14âÂÂ17] [The above] were granted to the new monastery at Yahisapavata so that the interest may be taken and appropriated for the use of the great community of monks who perform the holy vassa on the twelfth day of the bright half of the month of Nikamaniya in every succeeding rainy season.
Thonigala Rock Inscriptions, Anamaduwa under reign of Gamani Abhaya (1st century A.D)