තුනෙන් එක, දෙගුණයකින්, ගෙඩියට: how Sinhala counts
Unit fifty-two is the most arithmetic one in the course, and almost all of it is assembled from familiar numerals with four devices. Not one of them matches English directly, and therein lies the whole point. For example: “පඩියෙන් තුනෙන් එකක් කුලියට යනවා” — A third of the salary goes to rent. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Unit fifty-two is the most arithmetic one in the course, and almost all of it is assembled from familiar numerals with four devices. Not one of them matches English directly, and therein lies the whole point.
A fraction is read bottom up. First the denominator with the tail -ෙන්, then the numerator: තුනෙන් එක (tunen eka) — 'out of three, one', that is, a third. හතරෙන් එක (hataren eka) — a quarter, දහයෙන් තුනක් (dahayen tunak) — three tenths. The English order ('one third') is turned around here, and if read the English way it comes out 'three firsts'.
Multiples — the tail -ගුණය. දෙගුණයක් (twofold), තුන්ගුණයක් (threefold), දහයෙන් ගුණයක් (an order of magnitude, word for word 'ten times over'). In comparison -ෙන් is added: දෙගුණයකින් වැඩි වුණා (deguṇayakin væḍi vuṇā) — it grew twofold. The difference is fine but real: දෙගුණයක් names the magnitude, දෙගුණයකින් (deguṇayakin) — the size of the change.
A counter with the pieces. The round is counted through ගෙඩිය (geḍiya): පොල් ගෙඩි තුනක් (pol geḍi tunak) — three coconuts, ගෙඩියට කීයද (geḍiyaṭa kīyada)? — how much a piece. People are counted through දෙනා: මිනිස්සු පස් දෙනෙක්. A plain number with the counting tail -ක් gives 'a ten', 'a dozen' and every other collective: Sinhala keeps no separate words for them.
'One and a half' — a fused word. එකහමාර (ekahamāra) is එක (eka) plus හමාර, and the whole row is built on this model: දෙකහමාර, තුනහමාර. The backbone tags it num, and it is the only numeral of the wave.
Comparison is always through වඩා (vaḍā). The familiar link ට වඩා (ṭa vaḍā) takes the tail -ට (-ṭa) on the thing compared with: ගිය අවුරුද්දට වඩා පහළයි (giya avuruddaṭa vaḍā pahaḷayi) — lower than last year. The feature in which one falls short is marked with the tail -වලින් (-valin): කැමරාවලින් අඩුයි (kæmarāvalin aḍuyi).
Table
| Device | Pattern | Analysis | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a fraction | තුනෙන් එක | out of three — one | a third |
| a fraction | දහයෙන් තුනක් | out of ten — three | three tenths |
| a multiple | දෙගුණයක් | two-multiplicity | twofold |
| a multiple in growth | දෙගුණයකින් | two-by-multiplicity | twofold over |
| piece counting | ගෙඩියට | per piece | by the piece |
| a collective | දහයක් | ten-pieces | a ten |
| fused | එකහමාර | one-and-a-half | one and a half |
| comparison | ට වඩා පහළයි | by comparison — lower | lower than |
By example
- පඩියෙන් තුනෙන් එකක් කුලියට යනවාpaḍiyen tunen ekak kuliyaṭa yanavāA third of the salary goes to rent
- ගාණ දෙගුණයකින් වැඩි වුණාgāṇa deguṇayakin væḍi vuṇāThe price grew twofold
- පොල් ගෙඩියට විකුණනවා, කිලෝවට නෙවෙයිpol geḍiyaṭa vikuṇanavā, kilōvaṭa neveyiCoconuts are sold per piece, not by the kilo
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 Sinhala counts: how does it work in Sinhala?
Unit fifty-two is the most arithmetic one in the course, and almost all of it is assembled from familiar numerals with four devices. Not one of them matches English directly, and therein lies the whole point.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“පඩියෙන් තුනෙන් එකක් කුලියට යනවා” (paḍiyen tunen ekak kuliyaṭa yanavā) — A third of the salary goes to rent. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.