PDF at 70% CONTENTS 5 ABOUT SINHALESE ...............................................9 Abbreviations ....................... 10 PRONUNCIATION ........ PRONUNCIATION ...............................................11 Vowels.................................. 12 The Sinhalese Alphabet .........16 Consonants .......................... 13 GRAMMAR ..........................................................17 Word Order .......................... 17 To Be .................................... 30 Articles ................................. 17 Modals ................................. 30 Grammatical Terms .............. 19 Essential Verbs ......................32 Nouns .................................. 20 Adverbs ................................ 33 Case .................................... 21 Possessives ........................... 34 Adjectives ............................. 24 Questions ............................. 35 Pronouns .............................. 25 Negatives ............................. 36 Verbs.................................... 26 Prepositions .......................... 37 To Have ................................ 29 Conjunctions ........................ 38 MEETING PEOPLE ...............................................39 You Should Know .................39 Cultural Differences .............. 46 Greetings & Goodbyes ..........39 Age ...................................... 47 Forms of Address ..................40 Occupations ......................... 47 Talking to Monks ................... 41 Feelings ................................ 50 Body Language ..................... 43 Breaking the First Encounters ..................... 43 Language Barrier ...............51 Making Conversation ............44 Staying in Touch .................... 52 Nationalities ......................... 45 GETTING AROUND .............................................55 Finding Your Way ..................55 Boat ..................................... 61 Addresses ............................. 57 Bus ...................................... 62 Taxi ......................................58 Train ....................................63 Buying Tickets .......................59 Car ...................................... 63 Air ...................................... 60 Bicycle .................................. 65 000b-contents-pb-sin4.indd0b-contents-pb-sin4.indd 5 225/03/20145/03/2014 44:16:49:16:49 PPMM PDF at 70% 6 Contents ACCOMMODATION ............................................67 Finding Accommodation ....... 67 Complaints ........................... 72 Booking Ahead .....................68 Checking Out .......................73 Checking In ..........................69 Renting ................................. 75 Requests & Queries ...............70 AROUND TOWN .................................................77 Looking For .........................77 Telecommunications ..............81 At the Bank ........................... 78 Sightseeing ........................... 85 At the Post Office .................. 80 Paperwork ............................ 89 GOING OUT .......................................................91 Where to Go ........................ 91 Nightclubs & Bars .................93 Invitations ............................. 92 Arranging to Meet ................. 94 Responding to Invitations ....... 92 INTERESTS ..................... FAMILY ................................................................95 Questions ............................. 95 Family .................................. 97 Replies ................................. 96 SHOPPING .................... INTERESTS & ACTIVITIES .....................................99 Common Interests ................. 99 Calmer Activities .................103 Music ................................. 100 Talking about Sport .............104 Cinema & Theatre ............. 101 Going to a Match ............... 105 Opinions ............................ 102 Keeping Fit .........................106 Types of Sport ....................103 Talking about Travelling ....... 107 SOCIAL ISSUES .................................................109 Politics ................................ 109 Social Issues .......................112 . SHOPPING ........................................................113 Looking For .......................113 Toiletries .............................120 Making a Purchase ............. 114 For the Baby .......................121 Bargaining ........................ 115 Stationery & Publications ..... 121 Essential Groceries .............. 116 Music ................................. 122 Clothing ............................117 Photography ....................... 123 Souvenirs ........................... 119 Smoking ............................. 123 Materials ............................ 119 Sizes & Comparisons .......... 124 Colours .............................. 120 Weights & Measures ............ 124 000b-contents-pb-sin4.indd0b-contents-pb-sin4.indd 6 225/03/20145/03/2014 44:17:03:17:03 PPMM PDF at 70% Contents 7 FOOD ...............................................................125 Through the Day .................125 Vegetarian & Special Meals .... 129 Snacks ............................... 126 Self-Catering ...................... 130 Eating Out .......................... 126 At the Market ......................130 Typical Dishes .....................128 Drinks ................................ 135 . IN THE COUNTRY .............................................137 Camping ............................ 137 Geographical Terms ............ 143 Hiking ................................ 138 Fauna ................................ 144 At the Beach .......................140 Flora & Agriculture ..............146 Weather ............................. 142 HEALTH.............................................................149 At the Doctor ......................149 Parts of the Body .................156 Ailments ............................. 149 Alternative Treatments .........158 Women’s Health ................. 153 At the Chemist ....................158 Special Health Needs ..........155 At the Dentist ......................160 SPECIFIC NEEDS ...............................................161 Disabled Travellers ..............161 Pilgrimage & Religion ..........163 Travelling with the Family ..... 162 TIME, DATES & FESTIVALS .................................165 Telling the Time...................165 Future ................................ 168 Days of the Week ................165 During the Day ...................168 Months ............................... 166 Festivals & Seasons .............................. 166 National Holidays .............169 Dates ................................. 166 Celebrations ....................... 171 Present ............................... 167 Toasts & Condolences ......... 172 Past .................................... 167 NUMBERS & AMOUNTS ....................................173 Cardinal Numbers ..............173 Fractions ............................ 175 Ordinal Numbers ............... 175 Useful Amounts .................. 176 EMERGENCIES ..................................................177 General ............................. 177 Health ................................ 182 Police ................................. 178 ENGLISH–SINHALA DICTIONARY ..................... 183 INDEX ............................................................... 225 000b-contents-pb-sin4.indd0b-contents-pb-sin4.indd 7 225/03/20145/03/2014 44:17:03:17:03 PPMM 8 Map Sri Lanka i t Bangladesh t r a S l k India a P Jaffna Bay of Bengal Delft India Island Sri Lanka Mankulam INDIAN OCEAN Mannar Mannar Island Bay of Bengal Gulf of Vavuniya Mannar Trincomalee Wilpattu National Park Anuradhapura Gal Oya Sigiriya Polonnaruwa Dambulla i l e Batticaloa SRI w a h a LANKA M Kandy Negombo Kegalle Katunayake Pidurutalagala (2524m) Nuwara Eliya COLOMBO Adam's Peak Kalu INDIAN (2224m) Ratnapura da Uda Walawe OCEAN Ku National Park Kataragama Sinharaja Wa Forest la Yala West i n w G Reserve e National Park Hikkaduwa Ambalantota Galle Tangalla 0 25 50 km 0 15 30 mi 00cc-map-pb-sin4.indd-map-pb-sin4.indd 8 225/03/20145/03/2014 44:22:00:22:00 PM PDF at 70% About Sinhalese 9 INTRODUCTION Sinhala is one of the two official languages of Sri Lanka, a nation of more than twenty million people. It is the first language of more than 75% of the population. Around 20%, mostly in the north, speak the second of Sri Lanka’s official languages – Tamil – and a number of other languages, creoles and dialects are spoken in various parts of the country. English is spoken by approximately 10% of the population. An Indo-Aryan language, Sinhala developed in isolation from other members of its language family – as a result, and because of influences from Tamil, it was even classified as a Dravidian language. Other members of the Indo-Aryan family include Bengali, Hindi and Punjabi. Its closest relative is Divehi, spoken in the Maldive Islands. Modern Sinhala is a language that has been greatly affected by travel and trade over the centuries, and loan words can be found from a number of languages, including Dutch, Portuguese, English and Malay. According to Sinhalese tradition, the 6th century introduction of the language to the island is attributed to a sequence of events commencing with a journey by Prince Vijaya from the kingdom of Sinhapura (Bengal). Banished to sea by the king, Vijaya and his followers landed on an island, defeated its evil ‘demon inhabitants’, then settled down to create a dynasty. Thus Sri Lanka was