Deshamanya Prof. Jayaratna Banda Disanayake (born 16 April 1937) is an emeritus professor and one of the leading authorities of the Sinhala language. He was former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand.

Academia

Dissanayake received his primary education at Dharmaraja College, Kandy and secondary education at Ananda College. He graduated from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya campus in 1961. He later received a Fulbright scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, to read for a master's degree in linguistics and obtained a PhD from the University of Colombo. With a long teaching career of over 45 years as a lecturer of the University of Colombo, he is the author of numerous books on linguistics, culture and history. Prior to his retirement Dissanayake served in the capacity of the Head of the Department of Sinhala at the university.

Publications