Sandagomi Coperahewa, in The Sunday Times, 8 June 2025, where the title reads thus: “Felicitating Lanka’s Foremost Linguist”
I am writing this brief essay in connection with the felicitation ceremony for Emeritus Professor Deshamanya J.B. Disanayaka, the most senior academic and a distinguished figure among contemporary Sinhala scholars in Sri Lanka. The ceremony will be held on 13th June 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at the New Arts Theatre, University of Colombo, with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka presiding as the Chief Guest. I take this opportunity to reflect on Professor Disanayaka’s contributions to the advancement of Sinhala studies and on my association with him as a teacher, mentor, and scholar.
Born in 1937 in Rambukkana, in the Kegalle District, he received his primary education at Dharmaraja College, Kandy, and later attended Ananda College, Colombo. In 1957, he gained admission to the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, where he studied under some of the most distinguished scholars in Sinhala language and literature, including Prof. D.E. Hettiarachchi, Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Prof. M.B.Ariyapala and Dr. M.W.S. De Silva. He graduated in 1961 with a First-Class Honours degree in Sinhala, having won several prizes for academic excellence.
Soon after his graduation, he began his academic career as a lecturer in the Department of Sinhala at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. As a young academic, he chose modern linguistics for his postgraduate studies and had the rare privilege of receiving advanced training in both the USA and the UK. In 1967, he joined the University of Colombo and became the founding Head of its newly established Department of Linguistics, which was later relocated to the University of Kelaniya. He continued to teach at the University of Colombo, in its Department of Sinhala, for thirty-five years (1967–2002), bringing distinction to the institution through his academic contributions and research work.
As a university academic, Prof. Dissanayaka played a leading role in popularizing Sinhala language studies in Sri Lanka, making a lasting contribution to the advancement of knowledge in Sinhala grammar, language, and culture. He has published extensively in these fields, authoring around 200 books in Sinhala and English, along with several research articles of exceptional academic value. With his vast experience as a researcher and lecturer in Sinhala language—both in local and foreign universities—Prof. Dissanayaka consistently worked to expand the horizons of Sinhala language scholarship in Sri Lanka and abroad through his numerous publications and lectures.
As a modern grammarian, Prof. Dissanayaka took the initiative to develop a new grammar for contemporary Sinhala and to analyze both spoken and written Sinhala in light of modern linguistic theory, aligning with the diverse aims of modern linguistics and grammar. In his field of expertise, he worked to bridge the gap between traditional grammatical studies and modern linguistic approaches. His analyses and views on contemporary written Sinhala grammar sparked considerable controversy among Sinhala language scholars in the country.
In Sinhala language studies, Prof. Dissanayake’s primary focus was the documentation of folk Sinhala usage. As a scholar, he was deeply fascinated by the beauty and romance of the Sinhala village and devoted much of his time to collecting examples of folk usage. Although he gained a reputation as a professional linguist, his love for the Sinhala village and its people — especially the monks and peasants — inspired him to write extensively on Sinhala culture. A prolific writer in both Sinhala and English, he frequently shifted his academic focus, moving from grammar to cultural studies. In addition to his linguistic expertise, Prof. Dissanayake possessed a deep and varied knowledge of Sinhala culture and the arts.
Prof. Dissanayaka has spent several years studying the languages and cultures of various communities. In 1976, he spent a year in the Umbrian mountains of Perugia studying the Italian language and culture. In 1981, he was one of two Sri Lankan scholars invited by the Republic of Maldives to read and translate, for the first time, the 12th-century Lomafanu copper plates—the oldest known historical documents of the Maldives—into English.
As a linguist, Prof. Disanayaka always believed that Sinhala, as a living language, should keep pace with technological advances and be prepared to meet the evolving needs of society. He played a leading role in empowering local languages in the field of ICT, working closely with his computer science colleagues to secure UNICODE standards for the Sinhala script. Over the course of his life, he transitioned from handwriting his first drafts to using a typewriter, and eventually to word processing on a computer. Even today, he types the first draft of his writings on a laptop.
Prof. Disanayaka’s activities were not confined to university lecture rooms. He took a keen interest in the various linguistic and cultural affairs of the country. Throughout his long career as a lecturer, he delivered numerous lectures at both local and international forums, earning recognition as a distinguished scholar in Sinhala studies. He consistently welcomed academic discourse at symposiums and seminars, generously sharing his expertise with students, colleagues, and the public.
With his versatile and wide-ranging interests, Prof. Disanayaka has been a key figure in Sri Lankan media. Many journalists have approached him for interviews and invited him to contribute articles on topics related to language and culture. On numerous occasions, he has shared his vast linguistic knowledge with a wider audience through newspaper articles and columns, as well as radio and television programmes.
In recent years, moving beyond his academic scholarship, Prof. Dissanayaka has ventured into the field of Sinhala children’s literature by writing a series of booklets based on popular folk tales, as well as books designed to introduce children to the beauty of Sinhala letters and the patterns of the Sinhala language.
He has earned both national and international recognition and prestige for his scholarship and academic contributions. He served as a Senior Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, a Visiting Professor at Wako University, Japan, and as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos (2007–2011). In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the advancement of knowledge, the University of Colombo conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) in 2003. In 2005, he was awarded the presidential honorary title Deshamānya by the Government of Sri Lanka for his services to the country.
I first met Prof. J. B. Disanayaka—fondly remembered as “JB Sir” by many of his students—at the KG Hall in 1992, the year I entered the University of Colombo as a first-year student. I still remember his first lecture to our batch, delivered at the KG Hall using white chalk on a blackboard. It was common for students from various disciplines to attend his lectures, which were rich in knowledge, insight, and humor.
Prof. Disanayaka’s wit, his love of laughter, and his sense of humor often masked his erudite, serious, and insightful intellect. Yet, most of his students will never forget his lively lectures on Sinhala language and grammar. Although my early exposure to and love for Sinhala came from the Hela school of thought, his lectures at the university later sparked a new interest in studying modern linguistics. During my association with him over the past 30 years—first as a student and later as a colleague in the field of Sinhala language—Prof. Disanayaka has consistently valued discussion, dialogue, and debate. I still remember the wonderful times we shared at the Department of Sinhala, where his critical insights often sparked lively and meaningful conversations.
Even in retirement, he remains a dedicated and intellectually stimulating scholar. His contributions continue to be highly valuable to both academia and the media in advancing the study of the Sinhala language. I wish him good health, happiness, and strength.
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A NOTE From Michael Roberts, 23 September 2025
JB and I overlapped at Peradeniya Uni in the late 1950s though we were in different halls. However his home in Colombo was located off High Level road in Nugegoda, where I had two branches of my family in residence. This enable me to tap his expertise when the need arose at different stages in the 1980s to 2000s. His help was always readily given and was inevitably useful.
My memory is imprecise inits sepeicifcs but I recall meeting himat a conference or two abroad …..one I think in Japan and one (maybe) in London. His friendship, collegiality and scholarly aid is a memory that remains indelible.
