ඏ — lu
«lu» is a vowel of Sinhala, the “the Sinhala script” script, read as “lu”. A syllabic “l” — a sign from the Sanskrit tradition. The Sinhala alphabet has 76 letters in total. It is in the table but not in the language: it occurs in a handful of borrowings. In the alphabet it sits in the “six more — and four from sanskrit” group.
In short
| Character | ඏ |
| Name | lu |
| Sound | lu |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 11th of 76: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ඎ and ඐ.
How it sounds
A syllabic “l” — a sign from the Sanskrit tradition
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.
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 ඏ read?
As “lu” — it is a vowel of the “the Sinhala script” script. A syllabic “l” — a sign from the Sanskrit tradition.
What is the letter ඏ called?
Lu. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Sinhala script: it is called “lu” and reads as “lu”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ඏ be confused with?
It is in the table but not in the language: it occurs in a handful of borrowings. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.