Language/Sinhala/Grammar/Sinhala-Alphabet

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Sinhala Grammar → Unit 2: Basic Grammar → Sinhala Alphabet

As a Sinhala language teacher with over 20 years of experience, I am delighted to introduce you to the Sinhala Alphabet. The Sinhala Alphabet is written from left to right and uses a script that is derived from the ancient Brahmi script. Sinhala is a syllabic alphabet, which means that each character represents a syllable rather than a single letter. Learning the Sinhala Alphabet is the foundation of learning this beautiful and complex language.

Introduction

In this lesson, we will introduce the Sinhala Alphabet and teach you how to read and write basic words. You will learn twenty basic consonants, ten vowels, and ten vowel modifiers. By the end of the lesson, you will have a basic understanding of how the Sinhala Alphabet works, and you will be able to read and write simple Sinhala words.

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: How to Use Be & Conditional Mood.

Consonants

There are twenty basic consonant letters in the Sinhala Alphabet. To help you recognize the letters, we have provided examples of Sinhala words that start with each letter. We have also included the IPA pronunciation of each letter, so you can learn how to say the letters correctly.

Sinhala	Pronunciation	English
ක	kə	Kaju (Cashew)
ග	ɡə	Gaawa (River)
ච	tʃə	Chaaya (Tea)
ජ	dʒə	Jīvana (Life)
ට	t̪ə	Thana (Police Station)
ඩ	d̪ə	Dota (Frog)
ණ	n̪̊ə	Nun (Coconut)
ත	t̪ə	Thēla (Cart)
ද	d̪ə	Dayē (Elder Brother)
න	n̪ə	Nēra (Water)
ප	pə	Paasa (Money)
බ	bə	Bana (Word)
ම	mə	Mage (My)
ය	jə	Yāka (Demon)
ර	rə	Rata (Country)
ව	wə	Waturawa (Work)
ස	sə	Seeyō (Chillie)
හ	hə	Haal (Milk)
ළ	lə	Lēnā (To Take)
ෆ	fə	Fēna (Aunt)

Vowels

Sinhala has ten basic vowels, each of which can be written on its own or combined with a consonant. There are two types of vowels, independent and dependent vowels. The independent vowels can stand on their own, while the dependent vowels must be combined with a consonant.

Here are the ten basic vowels in Sinhala:

• අ
• ආ
• ඉ
• ඊ
• උ
• ඌ
• එ
• ඒ
• කෙ
• කු

Using these vowels, you can write a wide range of Sinhala words.

Vowel Modifiers

In addition to the basic vowels, there are ten vowel modifiers in Sinhala. These vowel modifiers are used to modify the sounds of the basic vowels or to add an extra vowel sound to a consonant.

Here are the ten Sinhala vowel modifiers:

• ්‍රෑ / ්‍රෝ
• ක්‍ෂි
• ්‍රෙ
• කි / කී
• ගී / ඟී
• රි / රී
• සි / සී
• ති / තී
• ඩි / ඩී
• මි / මී

Writing Simple Words

Now that you know the basic Sinhala consonants, vowels, and vowel modifiers, you can start writing simple words. Here are some examples of simple Sinhala words:

• කරුණාකර kərunākara (Please)
• ගෙදර gēdara (Home)
• ජංගමʼදුර jaŋgamadura (Pharmacy)
• නීතින් nitin (Inside)
• කමල් kamal (Lotus)
• පන්සික pansika (Sandalwood)

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have learned the basics of the Sinhala Alphabet. In this lesson, we have covered the Sinhala consonants, vowels, and vowel modifiers, and shown you how to write simple Sinhala words. Continue practicing the Sinhala Alphabet by writing more words and trying to read Sinhala texts. In the next lesson, we will teach you how to use nouns and pronouns to talk about people, places, animals, and things.

Finished this lesson? Check out these related lessons: Conditional and Subjunctive & Plurals.

Table of Contents - Sinhala Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Unit 1: Introduction

• Greetings and Introductions
• Numbers and Counting

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Unit 2: Basic Grammar

• Sinhala Alphabet
• Nouns and Pronouns
• Verbs and Tenses

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Unit 3: Sinhala Culture

• Festivals and Celebrations
• Sinhala Cuisine

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Unit 4: Daily Life

• Family and Relationships
• Transportation and Directions

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Unit 5: Advanced Grammar

• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Conditional and Subjunctive
• Passive Voice

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Unit 6: Sinhala Society

• Sinhala Folklore and Legends
• Traditional Arts and Crafts

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Unit 7: Holidays and Travel

• Booking and Checking In
• Tourist Attractions and Activities

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Unit 8: Conversational Sinhala

• Expressions and Idioms
• Sinhala Slang and Colloquialisms

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Unit 9: Sinhala History

• Ancient Civilization of Sri Lanka
• European Colonization and Independence

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Unit 10: Proficiency Test Preparation

• Listening and Reading Comprehension
• Speaking and Writing Production

Other Lessons

• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Future Tense
• Adjectives
• Conditional and Subjunctive
• Negation
• Nouns and Pronouns
• Verbs and Tenses
• Sinhala Slang and Colloquialisms
• How to Use Have

Sources

• Sinhala language - Wikipedia
• Sinhala – LRC Sales
• Sinhala script - Wikipedia

Videos

All about Sinhala alphabet letters / Hodiya / explained in Tamil / Part ...

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