Abstract:
Jhaya and bariya are two terms in early BrÁhmÍ inscriptions
in Sri Lanka that had been used to denote the next of kin of privileged
persons. Its prestigious usage suggests that the duality was not a hasty
expression. Present variation does not correspond to any geographical
or linguistic anomaly notably the differences held in the syntactic
morphology of the contemporary language. In the perspective of
social semiotics, it could be argued that the regular occurrence of this
inconsistency may signify a sensible disparity corresponding to the
contemporary social fabric. Theory of social semiotics considered
as the ‘codes’ of language and communication are formed by social
processes shaped by relations of power. Therefore giving a meaning
is a social practice. This essay attempts to investigate the probable
social circumstances which resulted in this duality of lexicon in the
early BrÁhmÍ inscriptions in Sri Lanka.
