Alphabet/Step by step/Vowels 1
We have already seen the Alphabet. But now We are going to learn how to pronounce and how to write Sinhalese letters, with examples.
අ edit
අ is the first letter of the Alphabet. it is basically pronounced as a in 'what'. It is only used at the beginning of a word as well as all the other vowels. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- අම්මා (ammā) - Mother
- අට (aṭa) - Eight
- අවි (avi) - Weapons
- අලුත් (alut) - New
- අශ්වයා (aśvayā) - Horse
- අක්කා (akkā) - Elder sister
- අකුරු (akuru) - Letters of the alphabet/Fonts
- අඛණ්ඩ (akhaṇḍa) - Unbroken/Continuous
- අඟ (an̆ga) - Horn
- අඟහරුවාදා (an̆gaharuvādā) - Tuesday
ආ edit
ආ is the second letter of the alphabet. It's like a longer version of the first letter අ. ආ is pronounced as a in 'smart'. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- ආදරය (ādaraya) - love
- ආච්චි (ācci) - Grandmother
- ආගම (āgama) - religion
- ආකරය (ākaraya) - mine
- ආධාරය (ādhāraya) - help/support
- ආයෙත් (āyet) - again
- ආරම්භය (ārambhaya) - beginning/commencement/start
- ආරාධනාව (ārādhanāva) - invitation
- ආරවුල (āravula) - dispute/quarrel
- ආවරණය (āvaraṇaya) - shield/shelter/covering
ඇ edit
The third vowel in the alphabet. it sounds like a in cat. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- ඇඟිල්ල (an̆gilla) - finger
- ඇස (asa) - eye
- ඇටය (aṭaya) - bone or seed or nut
- ඇට්ටර (aṭṭara) - obstinate
- ඇඳ (an̆da) - bed
- ඇඬුම (an̆ḍuma) - cry
- ඇඳුම (an̆duma) - cloth/dress
- ඇප (apa) - bail
- ඇපල් (apal) - apple
- ඇඹුල් (am̆bul) - sour
ඈ edit
The forth vowel in the alphabet. It sounds like a in 'ash' or 'jam'. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- ඈ - she
- ඈත (ǣtha) - far
- ඈනුම (ǣnuma) - yawn
- ඈන් (ǣn) - Ann
ඉ edit
The fifth vowel in the alphabet having the fine, sharp sound of i in 'his' or 'pin'. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- ඉක්මන් - quick
- ඉක්කාව - hiccough
- ඉක්බිති - then/thereafter
- ඉඟුරු - ginger
- ඉගෙනීම - learning
- ඉගිලෙනවා - fly
- ඉටි - wax
- ඉතිහාසය - history
- ඉතින් - so/well/henceforth
- ඉබ්බා - Tortoise
ඊ edit
The sixth vowel in the alphabet. It is sounded like ee in 'feel'. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- ඊතලය (ītalaya) - arrow
- ඊයම් (īyam) - lead
- ඊසාන (īsāna) - north east
- ඊයෙ (īye) - yesterday
- ඊළඟ (īḷan̆ga) - next
උ edit
The seventh vowel in the alphabet. It sounds like u in 'put. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- උක් - sugar cane
- උකුණා - Louse
- උකුල - hip/lap
- උගත් - educated
- උගන්වනවා - teach
- උගුල - trap/snare
- උච්ඡාරණය - pronunciation
- උඩ - above/over/on
- උඩඟු - arrogant
- උත්තරය - answer
ඌ edit
The eighth vowel in the alphabet. It sounds like u in 'rule'. This letter is also can be seen only at the beginning of a word. Let's see some example words begin with this letter.
- ඌ - it
- ඌරා - pig
- ඌන - deficient
- ඌර්ධව - high/above/upper/uppermost