ඞ — kantu-na-yanna
«kantu-na-yanna» is a consonant of Sinhala, the “the Sinhala script” script, read as “ng”. Back “ng”, like the “ng” in English “sing”. The Sinhala alphabet has 76 letters in total. On its own it is almost never written: this sound is carried by the bindu (ං). In the alphabet it sits in the “aspirates and sanskrit letters” group.
In short
| Character | ඞ |
| Name | kantu-na-yanna |
| Sound | ng |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 23rd of 76: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ඝ and ඟ.
How it sounds
Back “ng”, like the “ng” in English “sing”
The character in the “aspirates and sanskrit letters” group
Misra sinhaala. The aspirates (ඛ ඝ ඡ ඣ ඨ ඪ ථ ධ ඵ භ) sound exactly like their plain pairs in live speech — the difference has remained only in writing. Reading them is a must; writing them is not.
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 ඞ read?
As “ng” — it is a consonant of the “the Sinhala script” script. Back “ng”, like the “ng” in English “sing”.
What is the letter ඞ called?
Kantu-na-yanna. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Sinhala script: it is called “kantu-na-yanna” and reads as “ng”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ඞ be confused with?
On its own it is almost never written: this sound is carried by the bindu (ං). 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.