SACE Stage 2 Sinhala (continuers) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Sinhala word order

The basic order is Subject-Object-Verb, so the finite verb appears at the end of the clause. Modifiers such as adjectives and relative clauses precede the noun they describe.

-ද question particle

Adding -ද to a clause or focused element turns it into a yes/no question, as in ඔබ එනවාද? (Are you coming?). Wh-questions instead place the question word before the verb.

Diglossia in Sinhala

Sinhala has a formal literary register and a distinct colloquial spoken register. Literary ගියේය corresponds to colloquial ගියා, and the two are chosen according to context and medium.

Dative case suffix

The dative is marked by -ට (and -ෙ for inanimate objects), marking the recipient or beneficiary, as in මම ඔහුට පොත දුන්නා (I gave the book to him).

Polite pronoun ඔබ

ඔබ and ඔබතුමා are respectful second-person forms that take plural verb agreement. The familiar තෝ is restricted to intimates and is rude with strangers.

Relative clause formation

Sinhala has no relative pronoun; instead a participle clause precedes the noun, as in ඊයේ ආ මිනිසා (the man who came yesterday).

Definite versus indefinite marking

The suffix -ක් marks an indefinite singular noun (පොතක්, a book), while the bare or lengthened form marks the definite (පොත, the book). Plural is marked by -්.

Connectors for cohesion

Discourse connectors such as එබැවින් (therefore), එහෙත් (however), ඊට අමතරව (in addition) and පසුව (afterwards) link sentences and signal logical relationships in written texts.

Reported speech with කියා

Reported speech places කියා or යැයි after the quoted clause, as in ඔහු එනවා කියා කීවා (he said he would come). The embedded verb keeps its own tense.

Sinhala script origin

The Sinhala script descends from ancient Brahmi. It is an abugida, so each consonant carries an inherent vowel unless a vowel sign or hal kirima alters it.

Hal kirima

The hal kirima is the diacritic that cancels a consonant's inherent vowel, producing a bare consonant, as in the ක් in පොත්. It is essential for accurate spelling.

Prenasalised stops

Sinhala has prenasalised voiced stops written ඳ, ඬ and ඟ, pronounced with a nasal onset. They contrast with plain stops and must be distinguished in spelling.

Informal letter opening

Informal letters begin with ආදරණීය (dear) followed by the addressee's name and close with warm phrases. Formal letters instead use ගරු and a formal closing.

Formal letter closing

Formal Sinhala letters close with ඔබගේ විශ්වාසී (yours faithfully/truly) followed by the signature. The sender's address and date precede the recipient's address.

Hortative කරමු

The suffix -මු forms the hortative, meaning 'let us', as in කරමු (let us do). It is used for proposals and joint suggestions in conversation and persuasive writing.

Negative imperative

Commands are negated by adding නො- to the verb stem, as in නොකරන්න (do not do). The positive imperative uses -න්න, as in කරන්න (do).

Back-channel markers

Short responses such as ඔව් (yes), හ්ම් and ඇත්තටම (really?) show active listening. They keep conversation going without taking a full turn.

Declining an invitation

A polite refusal opens with කණගාටුයි (sorry) and මට බැහැ (I can't), then gives a reason. Direct blunt refusal is avoided in polite Sinhala interaction.

Kinship vocatives

Terms such as අයියා, අක්කා, මල්ලි and නංගි mark elder or younger siblings and are used as respectful address even for non-relatives of similar age.

Sinhala language family

Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-European family, spoken mainly in Sri Lanka. Its closest relative is Dhivehi, and it has borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Tamil and European languages.

Sinhala and Tamil New Year

The April new year (අලුත් අවුරුද්ද) is celebrated at an auspicious time (නැකත) with kiribath, oil anointing and first work. It is a shared Sinhala and Tamil cultural festival.

Vesak festival

Vesak, in May, commemorates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing. Homes and streets display lanterns, and devotees observe sil and give alms.

Sandesa kavya

Sandesa kavya are classical Sinhala message poems in which a bird carries a message for an absent loved one. They are a major genre of medieval Sinhala literature.

Inference in reading

Inference questions require combining stated facts to reach an unstated conclusion. If a text says rain stopped the class, the inference is that the class was cancelled.

Register clues

Literary Sinhala uses long verb endings such as -ය and -යි, while news and dialogue use colloquial endings such as -ා. Register signals help determine tone and audience.

Evaluative markers

Words such as අවාසනාවකට (unfortunately) and ඇත්තෙන්ම (truly) reveal the writer's attitude. Identifying them supports questions about tone and stance.

Summary technique

A good summary keeps the main claim and the concluding consequence while deleting examples and repetition. Topic sentences usually carry the information that must be retained.

Essay structure

SACE essays use an introduction stating the position, body paragraphs with topic sentence and evidence, and a conclusion restating the position without introducing new points.

Simile with වගේ

Comparison is expressed by placing වගේ (like) after the noun or clause used as the image, as in රන්වන් හිරු එළිය වගේ (like golden sunlight).

Formal vocabulary choice

Formal Sinhala prose prefers native or Sanskrit-derived terms over English loans, for example පරිගණකය for computer and රූපවාහිනිය for television.

Locative suffix

The locative marks place or time and appears as -ෙහි or colloquially -ේ, as in ගෙදර (at home) and පාසලේ (at school). It answers 'where?'.

Genitive suffix

The genitive -ගේ marks possession, as in අම්මාගේ පොත (mother's book). For inanimate nouns the genitive may appear as -ෙ or be expressed with a compound.