Sri Lankan English (SLE) is the English language as it is used in Sri Lanka, a term dating from 1972. Sri Lankan English is principally categorised as the Standard Variety and the Nonstandard Variety, which is called as "Not Pot English". The classification of SLE as a separate dialect of English is controversial. English in Sri Lanka is spoken by approximately 23.8% of the population (2012 est.), and widely used for official and commercial purposes.
The British colonial presence in South Asia led to the introduction of English to Sri Lanka. Since 1681, some words have been borrowed from Sinhala and Tamil by English. In 1948, Ceylon gained independence from the United Kingdom, and English was no longer the only official language. In subsequent years, inequality in access to education and national conflict have confounded the development and the use of SLE, particularly in Sri Lankan literature. SLE varies from British or American English in elements such as colloquialisms, vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation, and emphasis of syllables. SLE generally favours British spellings ("colour", "programme", "analyse," and "centre") over American spellings ("color", "program", "analyze," and "center"). SLE also favours the British "Q Before P" rule (i.e., ".) over the reverse (i.e., .").
