A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English

machang /machang/ (coll.) a familiar term of address between close male friends (Sinhala/Tamil; M from machaan) ° How machang? ° They're -ma on machang terms. /-mx/ (Sinhala emphatic ending, also added ♦ machang to English words for emphasis and/or You tell them , you tell them humorous effect)° sitting in the front-ma we must win. (MM 117) front seat ° You must-ma come! ♦ "Anil, machan, we will see you later." (FB 71) maaduru /mAduru/ sweet cumin (Sinhala) (> suduru) ♦ "Machang*, Tony, your sister is looking nice these days." (* Sinhala maama 'brother-in-law' but universally used /mAma/ uncle (mother’s brother or father’s as a form of friendly address. A sort sister’s husband) (Sinhala/Tamil) ° Mahinda of acknowledgement that we are all maama brothers under the skin, perhaps.) ♦ "Gnanamma," I whispered, (TT 195) mischievously, contracting Gnanam ♦ "Why should we kill those innocent and mama (uncle) into a girl's young fellows, machang, we are no name, as I used to when I was a boy. different from them." (OD 11) (WMD 208) ♦ Why does this fellow who greeted ♦ "No, maama," … (CG 122) him and called him 'machang' a mere ♦ How could a little girl play so much five years ago now behave like this? magic in the heart of her Maama, ... (OD 14) (KCS 42) ♦ "Yes machang, ... You have my word." (REP 347) maami /mAmi/ (= nenda) aunt (father’s sister or ♦ "I've been cutting back on my mother’s brother’s wife) (Tamil) drinking, machang, can't put them back like in the old days." (WE 110) ♦ "Yes, maamee." (CG 125) ♦ "Cool it machang," ... (FSD 3) ♦ "Bala Maama, I came to see Sonia Maamee," … (CG 333) ♦ "I'll take care of her, machang," ... (GC 307) ♦ "… and Niloufer Maami always asks after you." (Z 132) ♦ "I say machang, give us a peep!" (CP 47) machaan ♦ /machAn/ male cousin or brother-in-law "I got very upset in the bus machang." (Tamil) (> maini) (WCS 11) ♦ ♦ "Avoid Bullers Road Machaan. Too "Better strap in, machang," ... many check points and I don't have (CU 468) my ID." (Z 138) ♦ "Never mind machang," ... (M&P 296)

157 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English mad: are you mad? (coll.) nonsense! rubbish!  Like 'lies', the word 'mad' is used in a more light-hearted way in SLE than in BSE. madam (term of respect, dated in BSE); also used (sometimes ironically) to refer to President Chandrika Kumaratunga (> sir) ° Madam still hasn't turned up! ° Madam was very MAGUL BERA happy with the news. maha maddo /maha/ one of the two annual paddy /mqDo/ (coll.) a crazy person (usually harvests (Sinhala) (> yala) female) ° She's a real maddo. maha gedera ♦ "That old maddo will live more than /maha gedxrx/ (= ancestral home) (Sinhala) all of us." (YY 19) (> walauwa) ° All the family had gathered at made-up saree the maha gedera for the event. a Kandyan saree which is cut and tailored mahal; mahan to make it easier to wear /mahxl, mahxn/ daughter; son (Tamil) madithi (> merlay; mernay) /maditi/ a tree with small bright red seeds ♦ "Meena, … I am soaking wet, mahal." similar to olinda seeds (Sinhala) (WMD 386) ♦ Claudia gathered up the crimson mahanayake seedpods that had fallen from the /mahanAyxkx/ a senior Buddhist priest madhitchi tree on the edge of the lawn (Sinhala) ° Malwatte Mahanayake's and I threaded them onto cotton. funeral today ° TNA delegation to meet (HC 83) Mahanayakes on Monday maduruwas Mahapola /maduruwas/ (coll.) mosquitoes (Sinhala /mahapolx/ a scholarship scheme for 'maduruwa', plural 'maduruwo') ° maduru university students (Sinhala) coils mahappa maekaral /mahappa/ (= loku thaaththa) father’s elder /mQkaral/ a type of vegetable, a long green brother (Sinhala) bean (Sinhala) mahar ♦ … slender green beans we called /mahxr/ a Muslim marriage payment made Maakaral, … (REP 156) by the husband to the bride (Arabic) magul bera Mahasangha /magul berx/ (= geta bera) a traditional /mahasangx/ (= Sangha) the order of drum held at the waist and played with Buddhist monks (Sinhala, orig. Sanskrit) both hands (Sinhala)

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♦ "The JVP and the Buddhist priests ♦ Occasionally, to add to the confusion, in the bloody Mahasanga are already there are even a few elephants on their screaming blue murder, accusing us way to some temple ceremony, and of betraying the .” sometimes one of them runs amok and (CU 577) destroys a few cars and a mahout or two. (July 7‑8) Mahasivarathri /mahasivxrAtri/ a Hindu festival (Tamil, ♦ Rajah earned his keep by working also India) at the timber yard, carrying heavy logs about, loading and unloading mahatteya trucks. His mahout was Piyal, a thin /mahattxya/ master, boss, sir (Sinhala); wiry man, who became my friend. (coll.) a self-important man (> nona) ° He's (REP 140‑1) acting like a real mahatteya. ♦ It backs up to the pile of logs and the ♦ I think they thought I was a real city mahout unties the elephant. ... Under mahathaya because when I got my the guidance of the mahout it loads the money out, one of the men said he heavy logs first ... (PMS 227) would clean the fish for me. (Reef 124) ♦ The mahout, a grey haired man with ♦ But then again, it's best that they a fierce moustache, waves his ankus to think he is a pizza delivery boy, going the beat of the drums. (PMS 245) to college at night and on his way to being a big mahattaya. (Z 61) maini /maini/ female cousin or sister-in-law ♦ Then she handed him the battered (Muslim Tamil) (> machaan) little cardboard rectangle the dhobi had returned with the mahatheya's shirts. make (HC 158) /mEk/ repair ° Did you get the car made? ♦ Themahattaya walked slowly onto the □ to make somebody to do verandah. (WE 41) something ♦ Rani had always told him that the big to make somebody do something ° That mahattayas in companies were a funny really made me to think. ° On the whole lot. (WCS 22) there was a feeling of cordiality between teachers and students, which did not make mahout the students to hate or dislike them. /mahUT/ a man whose job is to look after an elephant (also India, orig. Hindi) □ to make a move to go, leave, be off° Then I'll make a move. ♦ The tip of the pole had a metal hook like a mahout's stick used for □ to make out tickling and tugging an elephant's ear. to understand; to recognise ° I can't make (Reef 163) out what you're saying.  In BSE, to 'make something out' means to see something ♦ A couple of elephants in scarlet livery clearly. carried their mahouts and a passenger each. (YY 142) ♦ Did he make him out, wondered Somaweera. Why shouldn't he have recognised him? (OD 14)

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♦ I heard them shouting behind us The very best maldive fish still comes but couldn't make out the words. from the Maldive Islands. (CM 56) (REP 210) ♦ The whiff of Maldive fish depressed ♦ There was some mumbled conversation him every morning. (HC 206) we couldn't make out, … (REP 241) ♦ The air was pungent with the odour ♦ "Shalindra Premasiri was in the lineup. of spices, powders, dried salty I pointed him out. I couldn't make out Maldive fish, ... (SMS 137) any of the others." (FSD 28) ♦ ... and he smells the frying fragrance of ♦ With a sinking heart I make out what Maldive fish vadai. (KCS 137) he is carrying. (GC 334) ♦ Thathi returned from the Maldive ♦ It took a minute or two, but he finally islands with two suitcases. One full made out what she was screaming. of dirty clothes and the other full of (CU 581) Maldive fish. Siya came out of his slumber and invited all his ten brothers Malay for dinner and they played cards and a member of a distinct Muslim community drank the whole night, eating of S.E. Asian descent (> Moor, Muslim) Maldive fish. (M&P 194) ♦ … he invited a huge Malay sergeant ♦ Even Magi giggled like a young girl named Bongso to join him one when she served the Maldive fish evening. (YY 141) sambol. (M&P 202) ♦ … a determined few from the other malefic ethnic groups - Sinhalese, Moors, (according to astrology) inauspicious ° a Malays, and the fast-disappearing malefic period ° with a malefic in the 7th Burghers … (CU 56) house ° marriage delayed due to malefic Malay pickle horoscope a mixed pickle traditionally served with ♦ A woman born with Mars in the buriyani (> achcharu) Seventh House was 'malefic'. (AG 138) Maldive fish, maldive fish Maligawa (= umbalakada) a type of dry fish /mAligAvx/ the Temple of the Tooth in commonly used for flavouring dishes Kandy (Sinhala = palace) ° Maldive fish sambol malla ♦ It was a small room, and it smelled of /mallx/ (coll.) a woven reed bag (Sinhala) raw and Maldive fish and other ° Don't forget your malla. dry provisions. (FB 296) ♦ A man came from the Maldive Islands mal lella carrying a series of cloth bags dangling /mal lQllx/ a traditional carved wooden from his shoulders. The bags contained ventilation panel above a door or window maldive fish, fish oil and various other (Sinhala) preparations, all made from fish. Maldive fish is sun dried fish used as a seasoning in cooking vegetable .

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♦ "Malli has no idea about money." (OD 13) ♦ "Sunil Malli, come, come. Have a cup of tea, come …" (WCS 70) ♦ "Malli, do you know the story of the MAL LELLA Ravayana?" (M&P 369) ♦ ... large and rambling with that stone mallung floor polished like marble and the /mqllung/ a dish made with shredded green ornate carved wood frieze - the mal leaves (e.g. gotukola, kathurumurunga, lella - under the roof, the Dutch tiles. mukunuwenna) and grated ; also (MM 68) used like achcharu in the sense of a mess, ♦ It might have been spartan but for a mixture (Sinhala) ° We always ate a carved verandah pillars whose design balanced meal, and mallung was an essential of lotus flowers and vines was picked part of it. up on the fretwork mal lallis above the ♦ Alice's date chutney, seeni sambol, doors and windows and on the carved mallung and brinjals and iced water. valance boards that ran along the (RF 137) bottom edges of the roof. (CG 13) ♦ She also made shredded green leaf ♦ What was unique and whimsical about mixed with grated coconut, which is the house was that the doors, the called a 'mellun'. (CM 21) lattice-work windows, the fretwork ♦ The food was inedible - rice, mostly mal lallis were all painted a sky blue, uncooked, and a dry mallung or a which contrasted sharply with the coconut sambol that had gone off, ... whitewashed walls. (CG 293) (WMD 365) ♦ A carver from Galle who specialised ♦ "… the boys in the commune who in mal lella was hired to restore the loved the mallung and the condensed- damaged fretwork above doors and milk desserts he was partial to." windows. (HC 150) (AG 47) ♦ Amrith pointed out how, above each ♦ My own family is a mallung of Muslim window, there was a rectangle of misfits. (Z 18) intricately carved wood latticework, known as a mal lallie, which let in cool ♦ She ate jack mallung heaped on cracker air even when the window was closed. biscuits. (HC 161) (SMS 113) ♦ How can they survive on cabbage curry malli and mallung? (GC 10) /malli/ younger brother; can also refer to a ♦ "... as a reward, we will be serving male cousin or any younger boy (Sinhala) a special mallung only for them." ° Tell malli to come for lunch. (GC 29) ♦ Malli cried loud and long because his ♦ I bit in to my tissue paper thin mother and sister were both crying. Mallung sandwich. (M&P 50) (OM 29)

161 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English malu karaya ♦ Often it was the signal for the farmers /mAlu kArxya/ fish man, fish seller (Sinhala) to shoulder their mammoties and walk (> karaya) to the other side to their fields. (OM 1) malu miris ♦ Elsewhere, farmers tied their loin /mAlu miris/ capsicum, a large variety of cloths, hoisted mammoties on chilli used as a vegetable (Sinhala) sunburned shoulders and made their way to the fields. (July 127) ♦ A few meters further, her Muslim brother in law was hacked to bits with a mamoty. (M&P 345) manamalaya /manxmAlxya/ (coll.) flirt, ladies' man MALU MIRIS (Sinhala = bridegroom) ° That one looks a malu pang real manamalaya. /mAlu pAng/ fish bun (Sinhala: malu = fish, manavarai pang = bread) /manxvxrei/ the podium on which the couple stand during a Hindu wedding ceremony (Tamil) (> poruwa) mangosteen /mqngusTIn/ a small fruit with a thick MALU PANG purple rind and juicy white flesh (orig. Malay) Mama /mama/ Mummy, mother (> Dada) mammoty /mqmxTi/ an agricultural tool with a wooden handle and metal blade, used for digging and hoeing (also India, from Tamil: MANGOSTEEN OED mamoty, mamootie) ° The farmer will pull out a mammoty and symbolically ♦ Only the mangosteen tree, which I begin work at the auspicious hour. practically lived in as a child during its season of fruit, was full and strong. (RF 59) ♦ They brought back mangosteens, brooms, mats and sunburn. (July 77) maniokka /mannyokka/ manioc, cassava, a kind of yam used as a vegetable (Sinhala) MAMMOTY

162 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English mani pittu ♦ He settled for the nearest Mara tree. /mani piTTu/ a type of pittu made without (WCS 62) grated coconut (Sinhala) ♦ "Has he got planted like the Mara manna tree and cannot remove the roots?" /mannx/ a large curved knife (Sinhala) (M&P 347) ° Murder suspect hacked with manna knife mara (2) /mArx/ (= fine) (adj.) (coll.) fine, great, superb (often used ironically); strange, weird, unexpected (Sinhala) ° A mara thing happened to me! ° He's a mara fellow! MANNA ° He hit a mara shot! ° Mara cool! ° It was a 'mara' problem when a huge tree on the ♦ The cut on his chest where themanna Anuradhapura - Mihintale main road fell had hit him was red and raw. (WE 45) on a lorry loaded with gas cylinders.  The mapila last example is a play on the two meanings of 'mara'. /mApila/ (= cat snake) a mildly venomous snake which has an unjustified reputation marketing of being highly venomous (Sinhala) shopping (for food) ° My husband does the marketing every Sunday. mara (1) /mArx/ (= rain tree) (n) a huge spreading ♦ This left Beryl time to wallop tree, common on roadsides and at the edge Carloboy, do all she had to do and also of tanks (Sinhala) go marketing. (YY 3) ♦ "Must be going there quietly when going marketing." (TT 231) ♦ She goes to the newly bereaved stall, condoles and continues with her marketing. (Z 4) ♦ I fervently hoped the fat woman had planned to do her marketing today or maybe talk to the teacher about her MARA TREE children. (REP 307) ♦ The evening was closing in, the crows ♦ "Anyway it's a good thing you came were cawing themselves noisily to bed back because I want to do some on the lofty mara tree in the distance. marketing." (FSD 31) (WMD 57) ♦ She had gone marketing and was ♦ … and ahead of me it was already dark returning with a heavy bag. (KCS 172) under the giant Mara trees, .. (BTH 1) ♦ The last question was as innocuous as a ♦ I hear the crows squabbling for perches wife asking her husband whether he'd on the mara trees surrounding the finished the marketing. (CU 248) union office as I climb the stairs. (GC 205)

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□ marketing bag married from shopping bag married to a person from (a particular place, e.g. a country) ° Did you get married ♦ But he hadn't reckoned with the from ? contents of the marketing bag. (YY 30) ♦ … and with a marketing bag that was maru (1) sorry to behold. (TT 38) /maru/ (coll.) great, superb (Sinhala) marriage broker ♦ "Maru (expressive Sinhala word that could hazily mean 'tophole' or 'super') (= kapuwa) professional matchmaker devils, these fellows." (JFT 181) ♦ But none of the marriage brokers ever came to the house on the hill after that maru (2) marriage! (OM 18) /mAru/ (coll.) escape, getaway (Sinhala = change) ♦ … the business would be done later, through a marriage-broker. (WMD 99) ♦ "Ado, Sumith, our bugger's done a maru." (CU 207) ♦ He received offers from twenty-seven marriage brokers. (HC 106) ♦ "… and a car parked somewhere nearby for a quick maru." (CU 220) marriage proposal (= proposal) the offer by parents of their mason baas son or daughter in marriage (e.g. in a /mEsxn bAs/ builder, mason, bricklayer newspaper) (> baas) ♦ … I gazed at Radha Aunty and Rajan Masoor dhal Nagendra and thought of the first (= Mysore dhal) red split lentils, the most time I had heard about the marriage common variety of dhal (also India) proposal, … (FB 99) ♦ Dhal: the variety referred to as 'Mysoor ♦ After dinner, Maha filled in the details parippu', fine-grained and pink and of the marriage proposal, stressing mistakenly believed to be coming from what a good family the boy was from. Mysore in India and boycotted under (WMD 98) the orders of the JVP when the Indian Peace Keeping Force was alleged to be ♦ In fact, he had been very attracted raping girls in Jaffna in the late eighties to the slight, fair girl whom he had until someone enlightened us that the gone to visit on a marriage proposal. dhal had nothing to do with India and (WCS 14) was really 'Masoor Dhal' which came ♦ ... because sometime back due to a from Turkey, ... (BTH 10) marriage proposal, Anthoni had visited ♦ The others know what is Masoor dhal, Princy with his mother and some which is yellow like a Buddhist monk's friends. (KCS 74) robe, ... (KCS 18) ♦ The marriage proposal was an unattainable dream anyway, and this is mas pang the final blow to her hopes. (PMS 270) /mas pAng/ meat bun (Sinhala: mas = meat, pang = bread)

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♦ … where a fellow with his head mawatha swathed in a gunny sack against the /mAvxtx/ (in addresses) road, street, avenue cold was doing a roaring trade in (Sinhala) ° Bauddhaloka Mawatha piping hot mas paans. (HC 81) may massas (tenses) (> might, must) ° You may be /mqssas/ (coll.) flies (Sinhala 'massa', knowing her. plural 'masso') ° From where have all these massas come? MC (coll.) Majestic City (a popular Colombo master shopping centre) male teacher (> miss, tuition master) ° English master meaning? (coll.) what do you mean? what does that ♦ Sumanasiri's best pupil, Kapila was mean? embarrassed to see his Sinhala master. (WCS 28) measure 2 pounds (of rice) (> chundu) ° a quarter mat: on the mat measure of rice (in newspaper headlines) in trouble ° Death of jumbo: Wildlife officials on the mat ♦ "It is impossible to get a decent measure of rice these days," ... mati (MM 92) /mqTi/ clay; (coll.) stupid (Sinhala) ° mati ♦ pots ° They're all made out of mati. ° Real As Tippy was coming, I made two mati case she is. extra measures of rice to make sure the dish was not cleaned out. (Reef 150) mat slide (children's) slide meat beef  While 'meat' can of course refer mature to any type of meat, it tends to refer (adj.) ripe; (v) ripen ° Are the mangoes specifically to beef in SLE. mature?  In BSE, 'mature' refers to people, but not to fruits. meda midula /mqdx midulx/ an internal courtyard or matured small garden (Sinhala) (adj.) mature ° He's not matured enough to ♦ A corridor led to a meda midula, open go alone.  In BSE, 'matured' is used as the to the sky, and beyond it there was past participle of the verb 'to mature', but another corridor that stretched far into not as an adjective. the distance. (CG 293) ♦ "How come you are matured like this?" ♦ … and Amrith told him about the And Saroja is looking at the kapok tree courtyards and mada midulas, which and smiling like a matured kapok pod. were interior gardens around which (KCS 39) the houses were sometimes built. ♦ "It surprises me, … A matured girl (SMS 81) like you are ignorant of these matters." (KCS 40)

165 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English medium Memon language (as a medium of education) ° She's /memxn/ a member of a small Muslim studying in Sinhala medium. community of Indian origin ° The first Memons arrived on the island as merchants ♦ … he went to an English medium and traders in 1870. school; … (BTH 28) ♦ This school had two mediums. The men! Sinhala medium and the Tamil (a colloquial term of address generally used medium. (M&P 43) between close friends) ° What men! ° Aiyo, sorry men! ° Sin men!  Like the rather meet: to meet with an accident outdated 'man!' in BSE, 'men!' is a very to have an accident (less common and more common term of address, used irrespective formal in BSE) ° Pradeep has met with an of the number or gender of the person(s) accident. being spoken to: i.e. it is just as common between female speakers as between male ♦ "If go loafing all over or meet with speakers. accident or something you'll come and scold." (TT 102) ♦ "You're a bloody fool, men." (JFT 18) meeya: to wait like a meeya ♦ "My God, men, what is that?" /mIya/ (coll.) to stay quiet, to keep a low (JFT 79) profile (e.g. feeling guilty about something) ♦ "Why, men, I am Ivy's third cousin, (Sinhala: meeya = rat) ° Look at him, no? Kelaniya Mullers, men." (JFT 119) waiting like a meeya as if nothing happened! ♦ "You owe it to the country, what men?" melodica (Reef 58) /meloDika/ a musical instrument, consisting ♦ "Come on, men!" (FB 27) of a keyboard like an accordion, with a tube for blowing air like a bagpipe ♦ "Anney just keep quiet men." (TT 94) ♦ "How about some golf, men?" (SG 171) ♦ "The way he was doing his hands, men ..." (WE 107) ♦ "What is this, men, embarrassing me." (SMS 108) ♦ "Mala, Mala, hurry, men, we're going to be late." ... "I'm coming, men," ... MELODICA (SMS 110) member menu card person (e.g. in a family) (> family member) menu ° There are five members in my family.  In BSE, 'member' is normally used to refer mercantile holiday to a person who belongs to a club or other a public holiday for private sector organization. companies

166 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English merit context of animals (birds, fish, etc.), or large (in Buddhism) moral credit gained through numbers of people moving from one area meritorious acts such as charitable deeds, to another (e.g. from the country to the alms-givings, pilgrimages, etc. (> demerit) city); individual people, when they move ° a pooja to confer merit on the President from one country to another, 'emigrate' and 'immigrate'. ♦ I thought we might get some merit from doing that. (Reef 171) ♦ When they found the Sinhala- Buddhist nationalism beginning to get ♦ In the Buddhist philosophy of sin and on their nerves they quit and migrated. merit, sin had to be counterbalanced (YY 114) by acts of merit if one did not wish to be reincarnated as a cockroach or ♦ The previous burgher owners had a dung beetle or something equally migrated to Australia … (July 10) miserable. Therefore, thedansala was an act of merit by its owner. (CU 86) miko /miko/ (coll., dated) a derogatory term for a ♦ In order to gain additional merit, low-class Burgher devout pilgrims bathe in the icy water ♦ of the stream before ascending the What she needed, he told himself, was mikos mountain. (PMS 113) a 'good Burgher', not those (a nondescript half-breed) who go about meritorious on bicycles and don't know to knot a bestowing merit ° This period is set aside for tie. (JFT 100) meritorious deeds. milchard ♦ "You have done a meritorious act, ... by /milchAD/ a cheap variety of rice feeding a pregnant woman." (KCS 33) ♦ … because I was carrying a bag full merlay; mernay of smelly onions and milchard rice. /mXlei, mXnei/ daughter; son (affectionate (BTH 9) term of address) (Tamil) (> mahal; mahan) ♦ … the smelly yellowy big grained ♦ "Merlay, … are you all right?" (CG 15) milchard; … (BTH 10) ♦ "What do you think, merlay?" milk hopper (CG 88) (= paal ) a hopper made with metal small stones used for building roads etc. milk rice (less common in BSE) (= kiribath) rice prepared with coconut milk and cut into diamond shapes, served might on festive occasions (> pongal) (tenses) (> may, must) ° They might be not wanting to come. ♦ Magi announced that the milk rice was ready. (M&P 334) migrate; migration ♦ emigrate; emigration ° They're hoping to He opens Saro's lunch box but is migrate to Australia. ° migration to the disappointed to find it filled with milk- US  In BSE, 'migration' is used in the rice; … (PMS 75)

167 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English milk tea □ miris malu white tea, tea with milk and sugar (> tea) /miris mAlu/ a hot fish curry made without coconut milk (Sinhala) ♦ She was beautiful, with almond-shaped eyes, long, glossy black hair, skin ♦ "Everyday buying slice of seer and the colour of milk tea, and a shapely making nice mirismalu (fish cooked figure. (CG 233) in and water without a coconut milk base) …" (JFT 64) ♦ He had already learnt from his mother that her friend was half-Dutch Mirror Wall Burgher, half-Sinhalese, and so he was a wall with a glazed surface at Sigiriya, not surprised by her light complexion, famous for the ancient graffiti written on it like milk-tea. (SMS 16) miss (1) ♦ She was more interested in Achi's female teacher (> master, sir) ° Miss didn't milk toffee and the milk tea with King come to class today. Parakramabahu the sixth's condensed milk. (M&P 152) miss (2) milk toffee (coll.) (of an engine) misfire° The engine is missing. a type of sweet made with condensed milk ♦ Achi continued to make milk toffee miss: to miss not having/doing … Milk toffees without cashew nuts something were not the same as milk toffee with (coll.) to miss having/doing something ° I cashew nuts. (M&P 102) really missed not seeing you. (BSE: I really missed seeing you.) miris /miris/ chilli (Sinhala) (> amu miris) missing ° Don't put too much miris. not here, not there, absent  In BSE, if someone is 'missing' it means no-one □ miris gala knows where they are and it is a cause of /miris galx/ grinding stone, a flat stone used concern; in SLE, it can simply mean they for grinding chillies, spices, etc. (Sinhala) are not around at the moment. ♦ My father was missing in the Veddha region, and my mother was about to go missing in the commonwealth. (M&P 204) misunderstand (vi) get upset with somebody ° Don't MIRIS GALA misunderstand! (BSE: Don't misunderstand me!) □ miris kaeli /miris kQli/ (= chilli pieces) dried chilli mixture omapodi flakes (Sinhala) a savoury mixture of nuts, pulses, , etc. (BSE: Bombay mix) □ miris kudu /miris kuDu/ (= chilli powder) (Sinhala)

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♦ … then they went around the corner ♦ Monies donated and allocated for to Bombay Sweet Mart to buy bags deviation and development of the of mixture filled with fried sticks of Mahaveli river basin stagnated in dough and cashews and chickpeas the minister's bank account, abroad. mixed with salt and chilli powder. (M&P 267) (SMS 138) monitor lizard MMV a large lizard (also India, Africa, etc.) (in the names of schools) Madya Maha (> land monitor, water monitor)  There Vidyalaya (Sinhala) (> vidyalaya) ° Tissa are two varieties of monitor lizard: the MMV land monitor (Sinhala: thalagoya), which is smaller, and the water monitor (Sinhala: mobike kabaragoya) which is larger. Theland /mObaik/ motorbike ° The gunmen escaped monitor is commonly referred to as an on a mobike. iguana. mod ♦ … and the occasional mad scramble in (coll.) trendy, fashionable ° looking very the thicket which signalled the hurried mod departure of a monitor lizard. (YY 192) modaya ♦ I spotted the monitor lizard when it /mODxya/ (coll.) fool, idiot (Sinhala) ° We moved again. (REP 204) are a nation of modayas. Montessori moju any pre-school or nursery school  In /mOju/ a preserved fish or meat dish(> batu BSE, a 'Montessori school' would be moju) ° prawn moju ° dry fish moju one specifically following the Montessori method of pre-school teaching. molgaha /mOlgaha/ a large wooden pestle used with moonamal a vangediya for pounding rice to make rice /mUnxmal/ a type of tree (Sinhala) flour (Sinhala) (> vangediya) ♦ She was in the garden alongside the ♦ "… I'll put a clout with the molgaha moonamal tree and the kohomba tree. …" (JFT 144) The flowers of the moonamal when shed always turned face up to the ♦ Inside the kitchen, Janaki was moon. (AG 202) pounding something with the mol gaha…. I stayed like that for a long moonstone (1) time, as the mol gaha pounded a semi-circular carved stone on the ground away monotonously in the kitchen. at the entrance to a temple (FB 100) moneys, monies sums of money (formal in BSE) ° The company has agreed to terminate the project and claim monies amounting to Rs 270 million for the work done. MOONSTONE

169 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English moonstone (2) mosquito coil a semi-precious stone with a cloudy white (= coil) a coil-shaped device burnt to repel colour mosquitoes Moor a Sri Lankan Muslim of Arab descent (from Portuguese) (> Malay, Muslim) ♦ "… Moors, Malays, Christian Tamils, Hindu Tamils, Buddhists, and so on and so on." (CG 68) ♦ When the Moor next appeared she asked to see the flat bales of cotton and MOSQUITO COIL muslin he kept in the bottom of his ♦ Was there a mosquito net above them dented trunk. (HC 204) or a fan, or just a Lion brand mosquito coil? (AG 229) moosala /mUsxlx/ (coll.) miserable, wretched, ♦ It was getting dark outside and desolate, unfortunate, inauspicious; noun: the roomboy cum steward placed moosalaya (Sinhala) (> muspenthu) ° a a mosquito coil under their table. moosala house ° a moosala face ° moosala (FSD 119) weather ° a moosala beggar ° Don't say such ♦ Once Jane-Nona had lit mosquito coils moosala things! ° The husband is such a under the chairs and brought out a moosalaya! metal candelabra, … (SMS 37) morala mosquito mat /mOrxla/ (of vegetables) old, over-ripe, not an electric device used to repel mosquitoes fresh; (of thambili and kurumba) old and beginning to ferment (Sinhala) motor bus halting place (= bus halt) (dated, on signs) bus stop more (1) (word order) ° 10 days more (BSE: 10 more Mount days) (coll.) Mount Lavinia; can also refer to the Mount Lavinia Hotel, or to St Thomas' ♦ Seven days more. … Six days more. … College, Mount Lavinia (M&P 92) ♦ "Well, I did book us a room at the more (2) Mount." (CU 231) (coll.) ° It's much more healthier not to eat meat. ° Nothing could be more further from move: to move with somebody the truth. ° hoping to reach a more wider to mix with somebody, associate with audience  In colloquial SLE, 'more' is somebody, socialise with somebody sometimes included with comparative ° They're not used to moving with boys. adjectives where it would be superfluous ♦ "You must move with people who have (and incorrect) in BSE. lost their homes, lost their families." (REP 329)

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♦ He had moved easily with friends who ♦ The mudalali only glanced at his came from genuinely wealthy families driving license before returning it to … (FSD 5) him. (FSD 236) mudalali ♦ "Or maybe Miss Decima has found a /mudxlAli/ businessman, merchant, trader, mudalali's son for our gamey kella?" shopkeeper; also used colloquially to refer (GC 217) to someone who is good with money, or to ♦ In the midst of all this chaos, the someone who is rather fat! (Sinhala/Tamil; mudalali, who owned the store, also India, from Marathi/Malayalam) sat cross-legged on a bench, ... The ° kasippu mudalalis ° He looks like a real mudalali gestured for them to be seated mudalali! ... (SMS 137) ♦ "He was a mudalali - a businessman." ♦ Kapila was not quite clear who he (MM 22) meant, and the Mudalali never brought ♦ The only rich person in the town was up the subject again. (CP 190) the Banduratne Mudalali, who owned mudaliyar most of the hotels. (FB 170) /muDliyx/ (dated) headman, chief (a ♦ First the old Mudalali, clearing his traditional title); also a court official (from throat and walking to the junction Tamil; OED modeliar) to get his copy of the morning paper. (OM 49) ♦ … to Jinasena mudalali, merchandising his loyalties on the political stock market. (WMD 274) ♦ "It's all right for you shop-keepers, mudalali," ... (WMD 372) ♦ "Gave those Colombo mudalalis and the police and the newspapers absolute hell - …" (SG 213)

♦ Fish mudalalis, shop owners, MUDALIYAR restaurateurs and others swarmed down the beach to attend the early- ♦ Perhaps one of the grandest houses of morning fish auctions, ... (July 9) Gardens was that of the Mudaliyar Navaratnam. (CG 12) ♦ Hemantha wandered off and struck up a conversation with the mudalali, ... ♦ In the days before European (July 90) domination, a mudaliyar, in the domain in which he held sway, had ♦ By that time he had gone to served as a representative of the Kurunegala and was engaged to be king. The British had continued the married to the daughter of a Mudalali mudaliyarships, but now it was an dealing in . (OD 88) appointment by the governor based on loyalty to the Empire. The mudaliyars served as interpreters to the British

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government agents in the different mukkuthi provinces of , and they helped /mUkkutti/ (= nose ring, nose stud) a stud the agents execute colonial policy. They worn on the nose (esp. worn by Tamil were also Legislative Council members. women) (Tamil) (CG 25) ♦ She smelled of stale coconut oil, and ♦ The Mudliyar realizing that something the diamond mukkuthi in her nose was amiss shushed the court sternly. always pressed painfully against my (Z 8) cheek. (FB 2) ♦ My grandfather, Sir Stanley ♦ The heavy gold mukkuthi in her nose Obeysekere, was a mudaliyar, an office enhanced the darkness of her skin. that placed a man at the pinnacle of (CG 181) our island's social system. A mudaliyar ♦ was a leader of men, with considerable … maybe she was the girl wearing a influence in his ancestral district. By pink sari and a gold mukuthu on her tradition he was a gifted soldier and a nose, ... (Z 34) skilled diplomat, abilities he placed at mukulufy the service of his sovereign. With the /mukulufai/ (= komalafy) (coll.) get advent of the Europeans, however, the embarrassed, get the giggles, flirt (from role of the mudaliyar evolved. ... The Sinhala) (> -fy) Europeans rewarded loyalty with land: whole villages were given in gift to the mukunuwenna mudaliyars, vast tracts of jungle, tax- /mukunuwqnnx/ a green leaf used to make free estates. (HC 6) mallung (Sinhala) ♦ Upali's, the chocolate people, had ♦ And other greens, like mukunuwenna recently been running an ad featuring - those leaves are long and look like a man in a mudliyar coat, a black spikes. (KCS 85) coat with gold froggings that native ♦ I bit into my transparent officials used to wear in colonial times. Mukunuwenna sandwich. Two tissue (CP 115) paper thin slices of bread held together mudukku with a Mukunuwenna and green /muDukku/ (coll.) low, seedy, sleazy (Sinhala) chilli mass, no butter, no margarine. ° mudukku joints (M&P 72) muffler ♦ I got bread and Mukunuwenna mallung for dinner while the rest of the scarf (rare and dated in BSE) family ate hoppers. (M&P 147) ♦ Harry produced a frightful checked ♦ She abstained from spinach, kankun, muffler that he wound about his mukunuwenna and all iron rich foods, throat. (HC 250) ... (M&P 230) muhandiram multiplug /muhxndirxm/ (dated) a senior official of the (electrical) adaptor Kandyan kingdom

172 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English mung ata ♦ "Superbly cooked, I must say," /mung qTx/ (= green gram) mung beans observed Vijay, working through his (Sinhala) fourth crab-belly. "Themurunga leaves make all the difference." (WMD 347) mung kavum, mung guli ♦ /mung kqvum, mung guli/ a type of Sinhala There were no onions or aubergines sweet made with rice flour and honey and or murunga to give life to the land ... a little mung flour, and fried in batter; (WMD 390) the kavum are diamond shaped, the guli ♦ It was legendary that every Tamil home are smaller and ball-shaped (Sinhala) on the Jaffna peninsula had three trees (> kavum) in the garden. A mango, a murunga, and the pomegranate. Murunga murder the King/Queen leaves were cooked in crab curries to  (dated) speak incorrect English The neutralize poisons, … (AG 240) concept of 'murdering the King', which is completely outdated in BSE, survives in ♦ She trained their lone domestic in the SLE, though it is probably restricted to the culinary art of making asparagus soup older generation. with murunga ... (Z 82) murukku ♦ Jane-Nona made her famous crab curry /murukku/ a snack made with rice flour in honour of Niresh's visit, with her and spices fried into crispy spiral pieces own combination of roasted spices (Sinhala) (> omapodi) ° murukku mould ground into a paste, coconut milk, murunga leaves, and tamarind to give ♦ … when they had sat down to the tea it a nice tang. (SMS 113‑4) and murukku that Devi had set before ♦ them. (WMD 333) Murunga flowers in scrambled egg, ... (CP 113) ♦ "Aney darling, can't you bring a bit more cake after you finish with the muscat Murukku, …" (M&P 238) /maskxT/ a jelly-like Indian sweet murunga ♦ … get her some real muscat, she'd like /murunga/ (= drumsticks) a type of that, and some English marshmallows. vegetable, the long green pods of the (WMD 376) 'horseradish tree' (Sinhala; OED moringa) ♦ "Try a piece," urged Vijay trying to ° murunga leaves put a piece of muscat in her mouth. (WMD 378) musical show (= beat show) a live concert (> show) Muslim a member of one of several Muslim communities in Sri Lanka; refers to their MURUNGA ethnic group as well as to their religion (> Moor, Malay, Borah, Memon) ♦ … leaning his bicycle against the ° Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers murunga tree. (WMD 338) ° Muslim law ° Muslim food

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♦ … the Muslim's turn would come ♦ "He must be not knowing that again, or the Burgher, or the Malay. my brother is about to sit for his (M&P 358) Engineering finals …" (OD 15) ♦ The young Muslim boy dressed in a ♦ "They must be thinking we are all faded sarong and torn Metallica T-shirt cattle!" (OD 37) … (Z 137) ♦ He must be having the same feeling □ Muslim hotel even about my reading the diaries. a hotel run by Muslims and serving halal (OD 89) food ♦ "So you must be having a lot of friends ♦ Just to please her, Ravi thought to try now?" (M&P 63) another Moslem hotel on the main muthusamba road. (FSD 265) /mutusamba/ a high quality variety of muspenthu samba rice (Sinhala: muthu = pearl) /muspEntu/ (coll.) miserable, morose; muttal noun: muspenthuwa (Sinhala) (> moosala) /muTTal/ (coll.) idiot, fool, mutt (Tamil) ° He has a muspenthu look. ° He's such a muspenthuwa. ♦ Muttiah as her husband. How preposterous. Muttal Muttiah. For he ♦ The phenomenon was surely was a "muttal" chap, an oaf, an idiot. moospainthu, a bad omen. (HC 50‑1) (CG 172) ♦ She knew the place was moospainthu. mutti It blighted her cooking. (HC 164) /muTTi/ an earthenware pot (Sinhala) ♦ Their presence in the house was ♦ She thudded an earthenware mutti on moospainthu. (HC 169) the counter and grabbed at two plastic must, musth cups on the side. (Z 123) /mast/ (n) an annual condition affecting mutton male elephants, making them dangerous goat's meat (also India)  In BSE, 'mutton' and unpredictable (also India, from Urdu) is always sheep's meat. ° When a tusker is in must, it has its legs tied with chains. ° Two young bull elephants in my! musth approached the camp. (coll.) my God! my goodness! ° My! How nice! must ♦ "My! He's absolutely charming," … /masT/ (tenses) (> know, have) ° You must (FB 98) be knowing them. ° You must be thinking I'm mad. ° She must be not liking to play. ♦ "My, child, that Beryl, real martyr, ° They must be not understanding you. no?" (YY 72)  In BSE, there are a number of verbs ♦ "My, but what a commotion with that (know, think, understand, have, like, want, Mohan, no?" (SG 120) etc.) which are not normally used in the continuous ('-ing') form. In SLE, they are ♦ … "myee, what a lovely dress" … often used in this form, especially after (July 54) 'must', 'may' or 'might' as in the examples.

174 A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English my dear (a dated term of address used between males)  In modern BSE, 'my dear' is a more intimate term of address usually used N with children or close acquaintances. na /nA/ (= ironwood) a type of tree (the Sri Mysore dhal Lankan national tree) (Sinhala) ° the scent (= Masoor dhal) red split lentils, the most of a na tree in bloom common variety of dhal (also India) ♦ The oldna tree that had shaded the ♦ "Only that vile stuff they call dhal. shop front was scorched; … (MM 21) None of the red mysore." (July 63) ♦ Now rice, sugar, flour, onions and nab imported Mysore dhal sat outside catch, arrest ° The police are hoping to nab shops in reassuringly huge gunny bags. the leader of the gang.  In BSE, 'nab' is (July 186) a colloquial word; in SLE it is also used in more formal contexts. nadagam /nADxgang/ a traditional musical drama (Sinhala/Tamil) ♦ Waving a silken scarf from one hand he sang a popular ditty, usually a nadagam melody. 'Nadagam' is a traditional ballad. (CM 58) ♦ "They are putting on anadagang , with puppets. Let's go and see." (WMD 62) nadun /nadun/ a type of dark wood (Sinhala) ♦ … and after great deliberation Sebastian had chosen to make the pews not of teak, as was customary, but of nadoon. Teak was easier to work on and light enough to be moved about, but nadoon had a grain and an incandescence which called to the light that broke in through the stained glass windows, ... (WMD 76) naki visey /nAki visE/ (coll.) an expression used to refer to an old man flirting with younger women (Sinhala)

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