ඔප්පු කිරීම, සොයාගැනීම, අත්කරගැනීම: the name of an action and the literary layer
Unit fifty-four is more literary than the whole wave, and for a reason: Sinhala discusses neither thinking nor proof in the kitchen register. Half of its words are a verb turned into a name, and the rule of turning is one. For example: “ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑ” — Without a proof it cannot be said. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Unit fifty-four is more literary than the whole wave, and for a reason: Sinhala discusses neither thinking nor proof in the kitchen register. Half of its words are a verb turned into a name, and the rule of turning is one.
-ීම and -ැනීම — the name of an action. From the verb -නවා is cut off and -ීම glued on: කරනවා (karanavā) → කිරීම (doing), වැටෙනවා (væṭenavā) → වැටීම (falling), පිළිගන්නවා (piḷigannavā) → පිළිගැනීම (acceptance). For the verbs in -ගන්නවා (-gannavā) the result is -ගැනීම (-gænīma): සොයාගන්නවා → සොයාගැනීම (a discovery), අත්කරගන්නවා → අත්කරගැනීම (an achievement). By this tail the literary word is recognized instantly.
-ය, -ාව, -තාව — the name of a feature or a thing. සත්යය (truth), පදනම (a basis), නිරවද්යතාව (accuracy), අක්රමිකතාව (a glitch). The tail -තාව turns an adjective into an abstract name exactly the way the English '-ness' does.
Almost each has a colloquial stand-in — but not all. ඔප්පු කිරීම (oppu kirīma) has one (ඔප්පු කරන එක (oppu karana eka)), සොයාගැනීම has one (හොයාගත්ත දේ), while පරස්පරය (parasparaya), උපකල්පනය (upakalpanaya) and නිරවද්යතාව have none at all: in speech these things are simply not named. That is why their hint says not 'how to say it simpler' but 'where you will meet it'.
Be careful with the homonyms of the literary layer. ඔප්පුව without a tail is a deed to land, not a proof. ප්රවේශය (pravēśaya) is both 'an approach' and 'an entrance' in a door. සාක්ෂිය (sākṣiya) is both a piece of evidence and a witness’s testimony. ප්රතිවිපාකය (prativipākaya) is a 'consequence' as a result, while the police investigation is called පරීක්ෂණය (parīkṣaṇaya). The homonymy of the two languages does not coincide, and this is where most slip.
Table
| Tail | From what | What came out | The colloquial pair |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ීම | ඔප්පු කරනවා — to prove | ඔප්පු කිරීම — a proof | ඔප්පු කරන එක |
| -ීම | වැටෙනවා — to fall | පහත වැටීම — a decline | අඩු වුණ එක |
| -ැනීම | සොයාගන්නවා — to find | සොයාගැනීම — a discovery | හොයාගත්ත දේ |
| -ැනීම | අත්කරගන්නවා — to achieve | අත්කරගැනීම — an achievement | කරගත්ත දේ |
| -තාව | නිරවද්ය — exact | නිරවද්යතාව — accuracy | none |
| -තාව | අක්රමික — disorderly | අක්රමිකතාව — a glitch | නරක් වුණ එක |
| -ය | සත්ය — true | සත්යය — the truth | ඇත්ත |
By example
- ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑoppu kirīmak nætuva kiyanna bǣWithout a proof it cannot be said
- මේක වැදගත් සොයාගැනීමක්mēka vædagat soyāgænīmakThis is an important discovery
- ලියවිල්ලේ පරස්පරයක් තියෙනවාliyavillē parasparayak tiyenavāThere is a contradiction in the document
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
the name of an action and the literary layer: how does it work in Sinhala?
Unit fifty-four is more literary than the whole wave, and for a reason: Sinhala discusses neither thinking nor proof in the kitchen register. Half of its words are a verb turned into a name, and the rule of turning is one.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑ” (oppu kirīmak nætuva kiyanna bǣ) — Without a proof it cannot be said. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.