Language/Sinhala/Vocabulary/Animals

Sinhala Vocabulary - Animals

Hi Sinhala learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn Sinhala vocabulary related to animals. Learning vocabulary related to animals can be really fun and it can also teach us a lot about the culture of a language. For example, did you know that elephants have a special place in the hearts of Sri Lankans? There are even annual elephant festivals in Sri Lanka to celebrate this majestic animal!

Let's get started with our Sinhala vocabulary lesson on animals. Don't forget to use Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Land Animals

Wild Animals

Here are some Sinhala words for wild animals:

Sinhala	Pronunciation	English
අල	ala	elephant
කලවැදිලි	kalawēdili	leopard
කොහෙව්දිය	kohewadiya	deer
මහවී	mahawē	bear
ලොකු මළුවා	lokumaluwā	buffalo

Let's practice using these words in a dialogue:

• Person 1: මම හොදම අල බලමු. (Mama hōyama ala bala mu.) (I like to see elephants.)
• Person 2: මටත් රට වලින් කලවැදිලියක් ගන්න පුළුවන්. (Mataṭa randai viṇ kalawēdiliyak gan̆na puluwan.) (I also want to see a leopard in the wild.)

Domesticated Animals

Now let's look at some Sinhala words for domesticated animals:

Sinhala	Pronunciation	English
ගවයා	bohō	cow
ගොවි	gōvi	ox
බල්බා	balba	goat
මාරු කලා	māru kala	sheep
පුරුම්බරිය	purumbary	pig

Now let's use some of these words in a dialogue:

• Person 1: බොහෝ ඉස්සර වෙන්නේ දැන් කොහොමද? (Bōhō issara wenna dēn kohomada?) (What do cows eat?)
• Person 2: බොහෝ මිලියන සහ කියන කොටස ජල බොන්ගවල හදමු. (Bōhō miliana saha kiyanakota jala bongawala hadam̆u.) (Cows and sheep are usually kept in a barn.)

Water Animals

Water animals are really important to Sri Lanka as it is an island nation. Here are some Sinhala words for water animals:

Sinhala	Pronunciation	English
මුදු	mudu	fish
ඉල	ila	eel
බුදා	budā	crab
කෙල්සි	kelsi	lobster
බිබ්බුක්ස්	bibbuks	shrimps

Now let's practice using these words in a dialogue:

• Person 1: අපි හුණු පොල්පත් වලට දුන්න පුලුවන් ඉදන් ඔවුන් ගෙන් මුදු හුස්ම ලැබුවා ද? (Api hunu polpata wadunna pulun inan owun gaman mudu husma labuwa da?) (Did we catch any fish when we went fishing in the ocean yesterday?)
• Person 2: ඔවුන් මෙදින් මුදු වලටත් පහලින්ම මිල වුණා. (Owun medin mudu waltat sampalima mil wan̆a.) (Today, we were able to sell fish at a higher price.)

Birds

Birds are important to many cultures including Sri Lankan culture. Here are some Sinhala words for birds:

Sinhala	Pronunciation	English
කුකු	kukku	cuckoo
කළු	kalu	crow
ගුවන් වැටි	guvan wēti	pelican
දාන්ගොළ	dangola	parrot
අම්කොතුව	amkotuwa	swan

Let's practice using some of these bird-related words in a dialogue:

• Person 1: කුකුකෝ හදුනාගත්තා නම් උපක්පරියක වටයක් පැත්තක් ඉදල හුරුපන් ඇති. (Kukkukō hadunāgaththa nam̆ upakpariyaka watayak pattak itala hurupan ati.) (The cuckoo has the ability to recognize a specific frequency in a louder ambiance.)
• Person 2: චික්ලට්ස්මන්ට පලපුරුදු සියවසේ ගුවන් වැටි ස්වාමීන් ගෙන් ඇති. (Ciklatismant palapurudayu siyawasē guvan wēti svāmīruns gen̆ gēni.) (There were pelicans in the nearby lake during the winter season festivities).

Insects

Insects are interesting creatures with unique traits. Here are some Sinhala words for insects:

Sinhala	Pronunciation	English
බර්රක්කුව	barrakkuwa	butterfly
හදලා	hadalā	ant
කපිලා	kapi lā	bee
ගොඩනැගිලි	goda negili	grasshopper
පණක්කලා	panakkalā	mosquito

Now let's use these words in a dialogue:

• Person 1: බර්රක්කුවන් ඉස්සර වැඩි විස්තර ගැන දැනගන්නේ මොනවාද? (Barrakkuwan issara wadi vistăra ganadagananne monawada?) (What do butterflies symbolize?)
• Person 2: ජල පරිමාර්ථයට හුදෙක් තම්බිය ලැයිස්තුවක් දෙන්න පුලුවන්. (Jala parimārtayata hudēk tambiya layitusුvak daen̆na pulun.) (Butterflies are believed to carry messages to heaven during funerals.)

Now that we've learned some Sinhala vocabulary related to animals, let's go out and explore the world around us with this new knowledge. Keep learning and don't forget to practice with native speakers to improve your Sinhala.

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➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Other Lessons

• Days of the Week
• Resources
• Languages
• How to Say Hello and Greetings
• Count to 10
• Time
• Food
• Weather
• Useful phrases

Sources

• Names of Animals in Sinhala | The Lazy But Smart Sinhala Blog
• English-Sinhala Bilingual Children's Picture Dictionary of Animals ...
• Level 16 - Animals - Basic Sinhala (in English Charactors) - Memrise