17th June, 1989

K.MATSUI , ID : MHA02645

TITLE : SRI LANKA 4

SPEAK OUT IN SINHALA

It is not necessary to learn and speak in Sinhala which is the language

of the majority in Sri Lanka, because , in general, they speak nice and

fluent British English (not American English) with some Sri Lankan

dialect, much better than most of the Japanese (In general , I'm sorry.)

However when you speak to them in Sinhala ,enven one word, it works

very well to become friendly to each other immediately.

I'll show you some of them, which might help you when you are in Sri

Lanka.

I've got a book for Shinhalese language in Sri Lanka writen by

Mr.J.B.Dissanayake, i.e. "SAY IT IN SINHALA", which says in its

introduction as follows:

SPEAKING : SINHALA STYLE

So you have decided to visit Ceylon-or Sri Lanka as we call her now-for

a short holiday. Perhaps you are already in Sri Lanka or may get there

in a couple of days or in a matter of hours. If you are a speaker of

English, you will not have much dufficulty in getting about in our

country. For most of our educated Ceylonese-or Sri Lankans, if you

like-do speak English,though, of course, our brand of English may sound

a bit strange and outlandish,at the beginning. If you are on a guided

tour, or if you hire your own guide, your need to know a language oher

than English will be minimal.

However, if you risk to get off the beaten track even for a while,

which I think you should, some knowledge of Singala or Tamil, the other

two languages spoken in Sri Lanka, will prove quite handy. If you

decide to get off the beaten track completely, however, a good

knowledge of one of these languages is assumed. Else, the results might

be catastrophic! But since most of you will be tourists who will have

only a few days or weeks to spend in our land, it is assumed that you

would not venture too far off the main road as to need complete mastery

of one of the national languages.

What this booklet aims to do is to provide some ready-made phrases in

Sinhala, with some comments relating to their usage and grammar, for

those of you who decide to be adventurous and wish to do your own

shopping, travelling, sightseeing and even talking to our own fellow

countrymen. In a sense, this is a "first aid in Sinhala" , for minor

risks that you may want to take while in Sri Lanka. However, if you

feel that adventure is not for you, well, this isn't you kind of book.

But,then, if adventure was not good for your nerves, you wouldn't be

reading this booklet anyway! Make the best of being in Sri Lanka-speak

some Sinhala! By the way, the word "Shinhala" means the language and

"Sinhalese", the people who speak it.

I think the above stipulation will give you clearer picture in terms of

Sri Lankan language than the introduction made by me at the beginning

in this message.

Now Let's try some Sinhala language.

INTERROGATIVES

How : ko-ho-mo-da

How are you? (Greeting) : ko-ho-mo-da? (stresss on ho)

How do I go to Ramada hotel? : ko-ho-mo-da yan-ne Ramada ho-ta-le

ta?

Note:

In the above , yan-ne stands for "go" in Englesh and ta is equivalent

of "to" (preposition) in English.

So you may be realize that Subject of sentense is omitted in the above,

which is not anusual in Sinhara, I think.

How much (asking for : ki-ya-da (stress on ki)

time,age,price)

How much is this? : me-ka ki-ya-da?

Note:

Me-ka stands for "this" in English.

So you realize that Sinhala is rather easy grammatically compared to

English.

How much is a ticket? : ti-ket e-kak ki-ya-da?

Note:

Ti-ket = ticket in English

e-kak = one piece/number of

What time is it? : ki-ya-da we-la-wa?

Note: (stress on ki and la)

we-la-wa = time

How old are you? : oya-ge wa-i-sa ki-ya-da?

Note:

wa-i-sa = age/how old

oya = you

oya-ge = your

Please do not use this phrase to young ladys/girls in Sri Lanka as they

are very shy and would be frightened by the question would be made by

you.

I like to learn the language in the country when I'm overseas.

I learned Burmese language and Sri Lankan language and I've got a knack

as to how quick I could converse with them by their language.

That is ,in my case, to learn and practise INTERROGATIVES first such as

what, when, where , which , who, how, etc.

When you converse with local people by their language, most of the

conversation could be made with interrogatives together with English

words for verb and noun.

For example :

(Sinhala) (English)

(1) Nown

bus e-ka : the bus

bus e-kak : a bus

ash-tray e-kak : an ash-tray

bag e-kak : a bag

bar e-kak : a bar (drinking place)

bicycle e-kak : a bicycle

bill e-kak : a bill (when in restaurant)

envelope e-kak : an envelope

fruit salad e-kak : one portion of fruit salad

menu e-kak : a menu (when in restaurant)

cake e-kak : a cake (sweets:Sri lankan girls

like it but it's too sweet for

the Japanese.)

camera e-kak : a camera

car e-kak : a car

taxi e-kak : a taxi

ticket e-kak : a ticket

Note:

Almost all items in daily life will be understood by local people by

just adding e-ka or e-kak after the English nown word.

It's very easy, isn't it.

(2) Verb

cancel ka-ra-no-wa : to cancel

book ka-ra-no-wa : to book (hotel room)

cool ka-ra-no-wa : to cool (room)

develop ka-ra-no-wa : to develop (film)

film ka-ra-no-wa : to film

off ka-ra-no-wa : to off (light)

pass ka-ra-no-wa : to pass (exam.)

plug ka-ra-no-wa : to plug (electricity)

polish ka-ra-no-wa : to polish (shoes)

reserve ka-ra-no-wa : to reserve (seat)

reverse ka-ra-no-wa : to reverse (a car)

start ka-ra-no-wa : to start (a car)

telephone ka-ra-no-wa : to telephone

type ka-ra-no-wa : to type (a letter)

Note:

Almost all items in daily life will be understood by local people by

just adding ka-ra-no-wa after the English verb word.

It's very easy, isn't it.

Sri Lankan Language continues.