ඕ — long o
«long o» is a vowel of Sinhala, the “the Sinhala script” script, read as “oo”. Long “o”. For example, in the word “ඕනේ” — needed. The Sinhala alphabet has 76 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It appears, for example, in the word “ඕනේ” — to need, to want.
In short
| Character | ඕ |
| Name | long o |
| Sound | oo |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 17th of 76: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ඔ and ඖ, appears in 25 words of this site.
How it sounds
Long “o”
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- ඕනේōnēneeded
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
- ඕනේōnēto need, to want
- මට දොස්තර කෙනෙක් ඕනේmaṭa dostara kenek ōnēI need a doctor
- ඕඩර් එකōḍar ekaorder
- ඕඩර් කරනවාōḍar karanavāto order
- ඕෆ් කරනවාōf karanavāto switch off
- ගෙවන්න ඕන දවසgevanna ōna davasapayment date
- රැකියා ඕෆර් එකrækiyā ōfar ekajob offer
- ඕටීōṭīovertime
- ඕවර්ටේක් කරන එකōvarṭēk karana ekaovertaking
- ඇතුළට යන්න ටිකට් එකක් ඕනætuḷaṭa yanna ṭikaṭ ekak ōnaadmission is charged
- හොඳ ඕෆර් එකක්honda ōfar ekaka good deal
- මට තව ප්රැක්ටිස් ඕනේmaṭa tava prækṭis ōnēI need more practice
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 (for «long o» it is “oo”, as in the word “ඕනේ”), 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 ඕ read?
As “oo” — it is a vowel of the “the Sinhala script” script. Long “o”. For example, in the word “ඕනේ” — needed.
What is the letter ඕ called?
Long o. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Sinhala script: it is called “long o” and reads as “oo”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.