ඒ — long e
«long e» is a vowel of Sinhala, the “the Sinhala script” script, read as “ee”. Long close “e”. The Sinhala alphabet has 76 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It appears, for example, in the word “ඒක මගේ වැරැද්ද” — it's my fault.
In short
| Character | ඒ |
| Name | long e |
| Sound | ee |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 14th of 76: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are එ and ඓ, appears in 32 words of this site.
How it sounds
Long close “e”
The character in the “six more — and four from sanskrit” group
The first six are met constantly; the last four (ඍ ඎ ඏ ඐ) almost never: these are the Sanskrit syllabic “r” and “l”, left in the table for completeness.
Words with this character
- ඒක මගේ වැරැද්දēka magē væræddait's my fault
- ඒටීඑම් එකēṭīem ekaATM
- ඒක මට දෙන්නකෝēka maṭa dennakōpass me
- ඒසී එකēsī ekaair conditioning
- ඒත්තු ගන්වනවාēttu ganvanavāto convince
- ඒක නිසාēka nisāthat's why
- ඒක හින්දාēka hindābecause of that
- ඒක විවාදාත්මකයිēka vivādātmakayithat is debatable
- ඒ විතරක් නෙවෙයිē vitarak neveyibesides
- ඒ කියද්දීē kiyaddīby the way
- ඒ වුණාටē vuṇāṭabut then
- ඒ වෙනුවටē venuvaṭainstead
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound, see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 76 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Sinhala character ඒ read?
As “ee” — it is a vowel of the “the Sinhala script” script. Long close “e”.
What is the letter ඒ called?
Long e. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Sinhala script: it is called “long e” and reads as “ee”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.