Lingoflyගොවියා, තරගකරු, පාන් හදන කෙනා: how a deed becomes a person
Half the names of trades need not be learned by heart. Sinhala builds the name of the person out of the name of the work, with a tail. For example: “ගොවියා (goviyā), වඩුවා (vaḍuvā) සහ (saha) උයන්පල්ලා (uyanpallā) එකම (ekama) ගමේ” (gamē) — The farmer, the carpenter and the gardener are from the same village. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Half the names of trades need not be learned by heart. Sinhala builds the name of the person out of the name of the work, with a tail.
The commonest is -යා, the tail of a living being: ගොවි → ගොවියා (goviyā) ("a farmer"), වඩු → වඩුවා (vaḍuvā) ("a carpenter"). A thing never takes that tail, so it alone shows that a person is meant.
-කරු and -කාරයා mean "the one busy with it": තරගකරු (taragakaru) ("a competitor"), හවුල්කරු (havulkaru) ("a partner"), වංචාකාරයා (vaṁcākārayā) ("a fraudster"). Written trades take -කයා and -ඥයා: ලේඛකයා (lēkhakayā), විද්යාඥයා (vidyāgnayā). A respected post takes -වරයා.
In speech there is most often no tail at all. You take the word කෙනා (kenā) ("person") and put a verb in front of it. පාන් හදන කෙනා (pān hadana kenā) is "a baker" — "the one who bakes bread".
Table
| Tail | What it does | From what | What came out |
|---|---|---|---|
| -යා | a living being | ගොවි — tilling, farming | ගොවියා (goviyā) — a farmer |
| -වා | the same, after a consonant | වඩු — carpentry | වඩුවා (vaḍuvā) — a carpenter |
| -කරු | the one who does it | තරග — a contest | තරගකරු (taragakaru) — a competitor |
| -කාරයා | the one busy with it | වංචා — deceit | වංචාකාරයා (vaṁcākārayā) — a fraudster |
| -කයා | a literary profession | ලේඛන — writing | ලේඛකයා (lēkhakayā) — a writer |
| -ඥයා | the one who knows | විද්යා — science | විද්යාඥයා (vidyāgnayā) — a scientist |
| -වරයා | a respected title | අධ්යක්ෂ — to direct | අධ්යක්ෂවරයා (adhyakṣavarayā) — a director |
| ...න කෙනා (kenā) | the colloquial “the one who” | පාන් (pān) හදනවා (hadanavā) — to bake bread | පාන් හදන කෙනා (pān hadana kenā) — a baker |
| no tail | the English word as is | plumber | ප්ලම්බර් (plambar) — a plumber |
By example
- pān hadana kenā udē tunaṭa væḍa paṭan gannavāThe baker starts work at three in the morning
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
how a deed becomes a person: how does it work in Sinhala?
Half the names of trades need not be learned by heart. Sinhala builds the name of the person out of the name of the work, with a tail.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“ගොවියා (goviyā), වඩුවා (vaḍuvā) සහ (saha) උයන්පල්ලා (uyanpallā) එකම (ekama) ගමේ” (gamē) (goviyā, vaḍuvā saha uyanpallā ekama gamē) — The farmer, the carpenter and the gardener are from the same village. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.