List of Sinhala words of Tamil origin

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Sinhala words of Tamil origin came about as part of the more than 2000 years of language interactions between Sinhala and Tamil in the island of Sri Lanka, as well as through Dravidian substratum effect on the Sinhala language. According to linguists, there are about 900 Tamil words in Sinhala usage. [1]

Contents

Sinhala is classified as an Indo-Aryan language and Tamil is classified as a Dravidian language. Separated from its sister Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi and Bengali by a large belt of Dravidian languages, Sinhala along with Dhivehi of the Maldives evolved somewhat separately.

Close interaction with the Tamil language and the assimilation of Tamils into Sinhalese society contributed to the adoption of several Tamil origin words into the Sinhalese language. The range of borrowings goes beyond the scope to be expected for a situation where two neighbouring peoples exchange material goods: Firstly, there are many Tamil loanwords pertaining to everyday and social life (kinship terms, body parts, ordinary activities). Secondly, several lexical words (nouns, adjectives and verbs) along with interjections (ayiyō), (aḍō) have also been borrowed. This - along with the impact Tamil has had on Sinhala syntax (e.g. the use of a verbal adjective of "to say" as a subordinating conjunction meaning "whether" and "that") - is suggestive of not only close coexistence but the existence of large numbers of bilinguals and a high degree of mixing and intermarriage. [2] [3]

Kinds of loanwords

Borrowings

The words pertaining to the fields of commerce, administration, botany, food and military are the most numerous; this is to be expected because

The borrowing process

Tamil loanwords in Sinhala can appear in the same form as the original word (e.g. akkā), but this is quite rare. Usually, a word has undergone some kind of modification to fit into the Sinhala phonological (e.g. paḻi becomes paḷi(ya) because the sound of /ḻ/, [ ɻ ], does not exist in the Sinhala phoneme inventory) or morphological system (e.g. ilakkam becomes ilakkama because Sinhala inanimate nouns (see grammatical gender) need to end with /a/, [ ə ], in order to be declineable).

These are the main ways Tamil words are incorporated into the Sinhala lexicon with different endings:

It can be observed that the Tamil phonemes /ḷ/ and /ḻ/ do not coherently appear as /ḷ/ in Sinhala but sometimes as /l/ as well. This is because in Sinhala pronunciation there is no distinction between /ḷ/ and /l/; the letter /ḷ/ is merely maintained as an etymological spelling.

Time of borrowing

In many cases, the appearance of a loanword in a language indicates whether the borrowing is old or more recent: The more a word deviates from the "original" one, the longer it must have been a part of the respective lexicon, because while being used, a word can undergo changes (sometimes regular sound changes along with the native words). The inversion of this argument is not possible since loanwords already matching the linguistic requirements of the target language may remain unchanged. Thus, the word täpäl (Tamil tapāl) gives away its old age because the respective umlaut processes took place before the 8th century; iḍama (Tamil iṭam) however needn't be a recent borrowing, because no sound changes that could have affected this word have taken place in Sinhala since at least the 13th century.

List of words

In the following list, Tamil words are romanized in accordance with Tamil spelling. This results in seeming discrepancies in voicing between Sinhala words and their Tamil counterparts. Sinhala borrowing however has taken place on the basis of the sound of the Tamil words; thus, the word ampalam, [ambalam], logically results in the Sinhala spelling ambalama , and so forth. However, the Tamil language used here for comparison is Tamil as spoken in Sri Lanka.

Note: For information on the transcription used, see National Library at Calcutta romanization and Tamil script. Exceptions from the standard are the romanization of Sinhala long "ä" ([æː]) as "ää", and the non-marking of prenasalized stops.

SinhalaMeaningTamilMeaningType
ādāyamaIncomeādāyamProfitTrade
akkā [1] Elder sisterakkāElder sisterKinship
agampadi [4] foreign soldieragampaḍipalace guardMilitary
agaḷa [4] trenchakaḻiditchDaily
accu [4] mouldaccumouldTrade
aliyāElephantalliyaṉElephantDaily
ambalamaWay-side restambalamPublic placeDaily
ämbäṭṭayāBarberampaṭṭaṉBarberTrade
āṃgāṇiya [4] Stall (in a market)aṅgāḍiMarketTrade
ammā [1] MotherammāMotherKinship
ānāManānManDaily
āṇḍuva [1] GovernmentāṇṭāṉRich man with many slavesAdministration
appā [4] Father (regional/colloquial)appāFatherKinship
āppa Hoppers āppam HoppersFood
araliya Oleander araḷiOleanderBotany
aḍaṃgu [4] containingaḍaṅkuincludingTrade
aḍakō [4] blockadeaḍaikōṭṭaishelterMilitary
aḍakkalama [4] insurance, halfway throughaḍaikkalamdepositTrade
aḍanteṭṭam [4] aḍantēṟṟaminclusion
aḍappaṃ [4] cattle diseaseaḍaippaṉcattle diseaseDaily
aḍō [4] oops (exclamation)aḍāoops (exclamation)Daily
attammā [4] grandmotherāttāḷmotherKinship
attikārama [4] authorityadikaramauthorityAdministration
attā [4] grandmotherattaṉ/accaṉelderKinship
[4] accakāram, accāramadvance paymentTrade
attikkā [4] figattikkāyfigFood
atvaru, attara [4] high person, Dravidian Brahmin who held high positionattaṉsuperior/high personAdministration
attivārama [4] foundationattivāramfoundationDaily
andam [4] andam
annāsi [4] pineappleannāsipineappleFood
attiya [4] motherattai/annaimotherKinship
adō [4] expressing pityantōexpressing pityDaily
appacci [4] fatherappāccifatherKinship
appā! [4] exclamationappā!exclamationDaily
avariya Indigo plantavuriIndigo plantBotany
ayyā [1] Elder brotheraiyā (see also Ayya)Sir, fatherKinship
ComeComeDaily
caṇḍiyāBandit, rowdysaṇdiyarBanditDaily
cīttaya Chintz cīttaiChintzTrade
ediriyaOpposition, hostilityedhiriOpponent, enemyMilitary
galkaṇḍuvaSugar-candykaṟkaṇduSugar-candyFood
hirumaṇaya [4] Device prepared for grinding coconuttirukumaṇaiDevice prepared for grinding coconutDaily
heṭṭu [4] Talk about buying goods at reduced priceceṭṭuTalk about buying goods at reduced price, thriftyTrade
hori [4] Name of an itchy skin conditioncoriName of an itchy skin conditionDaily
huṇḍuva [4] A metric used in measuring materialscuṇḍuA metric used in measuring materialsDaily
hurulla [4] Betel leafcuruḷBetel leafDaily
iccāvaFlatteryiccakamFlatteryDaily
iḍama [1] Site, landidamPlace, siteConstruction
īḷa Asthma īḷaiAsthmaDaily
ilakkayaTargetilakkuTargetMilitary
ilakkamaNumberilakkamNumberTrade
iḷandāriyāYoung maniḷandāriYoung manDaily
iḷavuvaDeath, funeraliḻavuDeathDaily
iraṭṭaDouble, even numberiraṭṭaiDouble, even numberTrade
īyamLeadīyamLeadDaily
jāḍiyaJarcāṭiJarDaily
jōḍuvaPairjōdi/cōdiPairDaily
hodi [4] GravysotiDaily
kaḍalē Chickpea kadalai (paruppu)ChickpeaFood
kaḍasarakkuvaSpice, curry stuffskadai + sarakkuShop + GoodsTrade
kaḍaya [1] ShopkadaiShopTrade
kaḍinamaHastekathispeedDaily
kaḍiyāḷamaBridlekadivāḷamBridleMilitary
kaṃkāṇiyāOverseerkaṅkāṇiForemanAdministration
kalandaA small measure of weightkaḻañcuWeight of 1.77 gramsTrade
kalavamaMixture, blendkalavaiMixtureDaily
kālayaQuarterkālQuarterTrade
kaḷudäävāDonkeykaḻudaiDonkeyDaily
kambiya [4] WirekambiWireTrade
kāndamaMagnetkāandamMagnetTrade
kaṇisamaSizekaṇisamSize, amountDaily
kaṇṇāḍiyaMirror, spectacleskaṇṇāadiMirror, spectaclesDaily
kappamaTributekappamTributeMilitary
kapparaSmall shipkappalShipTrade
kappiGrit, bruised grainkappiCoarse grits in flourDaily
kappiyaPulleykappiPulley
kāvalaProtectionkaval
kayippu Catechu
kayitālamaA type of cymbal
kāppuvaBraceletkāappuBangleDaily
kärapottāCockroachkarappaāṉCockroach (SL)Daily
karavaḷaDried fishkaruvāaduDried fishFood
kāsiyaCoinkāasuSmall change, coinTrade
kasippuIllicit liquorkacippuIllicit liquorTrade
kaṭṭumaramaCatamarankaṭṭumaramCatamaranTrade
kayiyeliyaCloth with coloured borderkailiMulticoloured cloth worn by MuslimsDaily
keṇḍaCalfkeṇdai(kkāl)CalfDaily
keṇḍiyaPitcherkeṇṭiPitcherDaily
kiṭṭuClose, nearkiṭṭaClose, nearDaily
koḍiya [4] FlagkodiFlagAdministration
kola / KoleLeafkulaiFoliage / Young leafBotany
kollayaPlunder, pillagekoḷḷaiPlunderMilitary
kombuvaName of the sign ෙkombu (lakaram)Name of the sign ளDaily
kōnPart of a namekōṉ(ar)Name pertaining to members of the Iṭaiyar caste ("shepherd, king")Personal name
kōṇamaA loin cloth for menkōvaṇamA loin cloth for menDaily
koṇḍayaPlait/bun of hairkoṇdaiBun/plait of hairDaily
kottamalli Coriander koṭhamalliCorianderBotany
koṭṭayaPillowkoṭṭaiNut, round shape, pillowDaily
kōvilaHindu templekōyilTempleDaily
kūḍamaShed, ResthousekūḍaramTentDaily
kuḍayaUmbrellakudaiUmbrellaDaily
kūḍayaBasketkoodaiBasketDaily
kūḍuvaNest, cagekooduNest, small boxDaily
kulala/kuḷalaPipekuḻalTube, musical pipeDaily
kulappuvaConfusionkuḻappu-to confuseMilitary
kūlamaPondkulam-PondAgricultural Term
kurumbāYoung coconutkurumbaiYoung coconutFood
kuliyaRentkooliRent, payAdministration
kuṭṭamaA PairDaily
machan [4] Term of endearment along malesmachanDaily
MalayaHill countrymalaiHillPlace name
malliYounger brothermalalaiInfantKinship
māmā [1] Maternal unclemāmāMaternal uncleKinship
marakkalaya [4] Boat, Ethnic Moor, Sampan marakkalam(Sailing) BoatFishing
massinā [5] Brother-in-lawmacciṉaṉBrother-in-lawKinship
mayilFur, any hair other than on the head/facemayirDaily
mellaGentle, tame, obedientDaily
mudalaMoneymudhalCapitalTrade
mudalāliMerchant, owner of a shopmudhalāḷiMerchantTrade
mudaliPart of a namemudhaliyārName of a castePersonal name
muḍukkuvaNarrow street, slumDaily
muluwhole, entiremulluDaily
munuburu [6] Grandsonmarumakan (marumakana > manumaraka)DescendantKinship
muranḍuObstinate, wanting to fightmuranḍuDaily
muruṃgā"Drumsticks", the edible fruits of the Drumstick tree ( Moringa oleifera )muruṅgaiHorse-radish treeFood
mūḍiyalidmūḍiDaily
mūṭṭiEarthen cooking potDaily
mūṭṭuvabale/bagfulmūṭtaiDaily
nāḍagama [4] Stage-playnaādagamDrama, stage-playCulture
nōṃjal, nōṃcalfeeble, unsteadyDaily
naṃgī [1] Younger sisternaṅgaiYounger sisterKinship
neyyāḍam [7] PlayneyyāṭalOil bath taken on festive occasionsCulture
nōnḍi, nonḍilamenonḍiDaily
nūlaString/ThreadnūlDaily
oppuvaProofoppuAdministration
ottēOdd numberotṟaiOdd numberTrade
ottuvaEspionageotṟuEspionageAdministration
padakkamaMedalpadhakkamMedalAdministration
pāḍamaLessonpāadamLessonCulture
paḍiyaWagepaṭiExtra payAdministration
pālamaBridgepāalamBridgeConstruction
paḷiyaRevengepaḻiGuilt, revengeDaily
palliyaChurch/MosquepalliChurch/MosqueDaily
pandalamaBower, shady placepandhalBower, shady placeDaily
pandamaTorchpandhamTorchReligious
peruṃkāyamAsafoetidaperuṃkāyamAsafoetidaDaily
parippu [4] Lentils paruppuLentilsFood
piṭṭuA rice dish piṭṭu A rice dishFood
poḍiSmall, littlepodiSmallDaily
poṭṭuvaBindipottuDaily
porayaFightpōrFightMilitary
poronduvaAgreement, promiseporundhu-To fit, to agreeDaily
porottuvaDelay, waitingpoṟutthuHaving waitedDaily
pūccamaBoast, bragDaily
pullēPart of a name Pillai Part of a name (originally a title)Personal name
pūṇa nūlaSacred string/cord that Brahmins wear over their shoulderpoo-noolSacred stringDaily
saiva, sāivaShaivitesaivaShaiviteDaily
salliMoneysalliCoinTrade
saṇḍuvaFightsaṇdaiFightMilitary
sekkuvaOil millsekkuDaily
sembuvaSmall metal potsembuDaily
seṃkamālayajaundiceDaily
sereppuvaSandalsseruppuSandalsDaily
sottiCrippled, deformedsothhaiEmaciated person, defectDaily
suliwhirl, vorticalDaily
suruṭṭuvaCigarsuruṭṭuCigarDaily
takkāli Tomato thakkaāḷiTomatoFood
talluvaA pushthaḷḷu-To pushDaily
tambiyāDerogatory term for a Muslim mantambiYounger brotherDaily
tani [1] AlonetaṉiAloneDaily
täpälPostaltabaālPostal, mailAdministration
taramaSize, position, quantitytharamQuality, sortTrade
taṭṭaBaldthaṭṭaiBaldnessDaily
tāliyaA necklace signifying marriagetāliDaily
tāttāFatherthāathaāGrandfatherKinship
taṭṭuvaA knockthaṭṭu-To knockDaily
tōḍuvaA hollow cylindrical earringtōḍuDaily
tunḍuvabit/scraptunḍuDaily
uḍäkkiyaA narrow drumudukkaiA narrow drumDaily
udavvaHelpudhaviHelpDaily
ulukkuvaSprain (of a joint)suḷukkuSprainDaily
ūḷiyamaTax payable by foreignersooḻiyamServiceAdministration
urayaCovering/CaseDaily
urumaya [1] Rights/heritageurimaiRights/heritageAdministration
vaṭṭiyaType of shallow basketDaily
veriDrunkveṟiintention, madnessDaily

Verbs

Several verbs have been adopted into Sinhala from the Tamil language. The vast majority of these are compound verbs consisting of a Tamil origin primary verb and a Sinhala origin light verb.

SinhalaසිංහලMeaningTamilMeaning
iranavāඉරනවාTo tear
kiṭṭu venavāකිට්ටු වෙනවාTo get close, to near
kolla karanavāකොල්ල කනවාTo plunderKoḷḷai
nōnḍi venavāනෝන්ඩි වෙනවාTo be humiliated/embarrassed
parakku venavāපරක්කු වෙනවාTo be late/delayed
pattu karanavāපත්තු කරනවාTo light, to set on firepatṟu-To catch fire
pēru väṭenavāපේරු වැටෙනවාTo fall to someone by chancepēṟuLuck ll
poḍi venavāපොඩි වෙනවාTo be crushed/crumpled
pūṭṭu karanavāපූට්ටු කරනවාTo splice, to fasten together
tallu karanavāතල්ලු කරනවාTo pushthaḷḷu-To push
taṭṭu karanavāතට්ටු කරනවාTo knockthaṭṭu-
udav karanavāඋදව් කරනවාTo helpUtavi
veḍi kanavāවෙඩි කනවාTo have been shotvediShot, dynamite
veḍi tiyanavāවෙඩි තියනවාTo shoot, to firevediShot, dynamite
veri venavāවෙරි වෙනවාTo become drunkveri

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Coperahewa, Sandagomi (2007). "Language Contact and Linguistic Area: Sinhala — Tamil Contact Situation". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. 53: 133–152. JSTOR   23731203.
  2. Umberto Ansaldo, Sri Lanka and South India, The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics (2017), pp.575-585
  3. Harold Dharmasenan Thampoe. Sinhala and Tamil: A Case of Contact-Induced Restructuring. Ph.D. diss., School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Coperahewa, Sandagomi (2002). A Dictionary of Tamil words in Sinhala. Colombo: S. Godage Brothers. pp. 27–90.
  5. M.H. Peter Silva, Influence of Dravida on Sinhalese, University of Oxford. Faculty of Oriental Studies 1961, Thesis (D.Phil.) p. 49
  6. M.H. Peter Silva, Influence of Dravida on Sinhalese, University of Oxford. Faculty of Oriental Studies 1961, Thesis (D.Phil.) p. iv
  7. M.H. Peter Silva, Influence of Dravida on Sinhalese, University of Oxford. Faculty of Oriental Studies 1961, Thesis (D.Phil.) p. vii