In this post, I’ve put together 21 Sinhala phrases that I think that you, the person wanting to learn Sinhala, absolutely must know. That’s the only difference. /v/, /ʋ/, /w/ are all allophones of ව. Hope I’m reaching dilshan. Some words that use හ /h/ in the spoken language use ස /s/ instead in the written language. In the following table, the IPA for each consonant is shown without the inherent vowel for clarity. ළ used to be pronounced /ɭ/, differently from this letter ල /l/, but in modern Sinhala they are both pronounced /l/. I notice you use the phrase “i want” sometimes, as in the phrase “I want to go here” = ma∙tȧ mé∙hé∙tȧ yan∙nȧ ō∙né Where I come from “i want” is a correct phrase but seen as a little impolite when asking a question. We have a Chrome Extension and an Android App How is “ thi∙yén∙né” related to “ thi∙yé∙nȧ∙va“ ? For example if asking for a coffee, would you say “I would like a coffee” or “I want a coffee” Many thank, great work! My father grew up speaking Sinhala but since immigrating to England in the 70’s he has lost a lot of it and didn’t bother to teach my brother or I. Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited and it has inspired me to learn more of the culture. ශ්රී ලංකා (Sri Lanka) use to be spelt with this letter, but now the dependent stroke බිංදුව. Thanks again!! Yehey!!! Hi, I'm Dilshan and welcome to my blog! No, wait. Hi Chris, it means “what are you doing?”. Wow, Dilshan. Cheers! Hi Chris, I think the phrase you’re referring to is “kohedha yanné?” (“where are you going?”). Hi Dilshan, what’s the meaning of monowada oya karanne? I’ll think about doing a post that also includes “this” and “that”. There’s no standard answer I can think of except tell the person exactly where you’re going (that’s if you want to share). There are 18 vowels and 42 consonants in this modern alphabet. ෆ /f/ f: f in fin /fɪn/. Each word has only a single pronunciation. It’s only for when you’re actually going somewhere? This letter is written like a cross between ම one letter before, and බ three letters before. Thanks for the suggestion. This letter ණ used to be pronounced /ɳ/, differently from න /n/, but in modern Sinhala they are both pronounced /n/. Some words that use ස /s/ in the written language use හ /h/ instead in the spoken language. I find I am getting too tongue tied trying to quicken my pronunciation. Listen to the audio files and practice to pronounce them. Was it “kohédha yanné?” (“where are you going?”). Somewhat similar to. Cheers!! As a Sri Lankan native and growing up in the West, your blog and videos have help me teach my western born sri Lankan to be more fluent in “lazy” Sinhalese. So in keeping with this blog’s underlying theme of “good enough Sinhala / minimum needed effort”, this is a totally acceptable way of saying “I want to go there”. At this starting stage, I would advise you the two following guidelines: 1) First, we add the suffix ‘tȧ’ to the end of hō∙tȧ∙lȧ∙yȧ to make it hō∙tȧ∙lȧ∙yȧ∙tȧ (which now means “to the hotel”) 2) Then, we place it between ma∙tȧ and yan∙nȧ. Let me know if you run into any problems in downloading it: http://www.lazybutsmartsinhala.com/join/. Hi Dilshan, Thanks for the blog. Sound ə is never pronounced with the letter 'අ' which is always written in the beginning of a word, but with a consonant which has joined with the vowel sound of 'අ'. This letter is not used in modern Sinhala. Hello Dilshan, I’m a Chinese student and I will come back to Sri Lanka soon to see my friend and his families. Great blog, really enjoying it. (15) Like wine tasters, coffee tasters have developed a specialized vocabulary to analyze the complex flavors and feel of a cup of coffee. Try to memorize the letters and the sounds of each letter. = “from where?”), (ma∙tȧ = “for me”; ba∙dȧ gi∙niyi = “(am/are/is) hungry”), (ma∙tȧ ō∙né = “I want”; va∙thu∙rȧ = “water”), (ma∙tȧ nǣ = “I don’t have”; sa∙nee∙pȧ = “wellness”), (ma∙tȧ ō∙né = “I want/need”; dhos∙thȧ∙rȧ ké∙nék∙vȧ = “a doctor”), [ma∙tȧ = “to me”; u∙dhauw kȧ∙ran∙nȧ! Could you please teach me how to say these 4 sentences in sinhalese that even children can easily understand? That’s how I understand it, but Dilshan will come and explain in a „lazier“ way, we all like so much :), WOW Amazing and i will visit the SRILANKA soon This is so useful for me And i have a question Can i talk “budu sananai” with everyone even i am not a Buddist And I want to request your free book. This letter ළ used to be pronounced /ɭ/, differently from ල /l/, but in modern Sinhala they are both pronounced /l/. It is explained in the highlighted part of the previous lesson. And instead of a “kohomadha?”, you’ll ask this. The phrase “Kohede yanawa?” (where are you going) was always used instead of “how are you? Regards, Alina. Also, do you find my pronunciation of the words too fast? Download sinhala fonts for microsoft word for free. This page contains a list of Sinhala words and expressions as well as other lessons in grammar topics and common expressions in Sinhala also called Sinhanlese. But in Sinhala, this is exactly how we would say it. You’re doing a fantastic job! Meaning and definitions of vocabulary, translation in Sinhala language for vocabulary with similar and opposite words. Which is great when all of us are in public and need to comment about something. All other vowels are just very simple and easy to understand. It’s not going to be the end of world if you do; it’s just not appropriate. Hanna, Thanks Hanna, glad you like the flashcards. /ʈ/ in Sinhala is close enough to /t/ in English that most people won't hear the difference. ***One small note: in English we wouldn’t say “I want to go TO there”. Blitzed through your introductory lessons, but have been held up of late in getting stuck into learning verbs. I am enjoying your tutorials,but my only problem apart from pronunciation,is the pace in which I enunciate sinhala language. Please think about voting for the accuracy of Sinhala swear words below or even add a Sinhala cuss or Sinhala slang phrase. weaving, cultural things, music… I desperately want to be able to help Loku ama and nanda in the home but can't seem to express to them… Thank you so much :), I think I have an idea of the order of sentence I just don't know the words for teach and help…, Also is there a more repectful way to ask to be taught or ask to help, for example could I say "i really want to learn from you, i respect your way and would like to learn". (12) But Martins just doesn't have the vocabulary or perhaps the artistic reach to evoke such imagery as dramatically as Adams does. Having said that, let me now guide you on the more correct way. I find them very easy and useful. Excellent, thanks! I would love to see a seperate blog post about this, but it seems to me you’ve just about written it already!