-කම, -ත්වය, -ශීලී: the name of a character and a person’s feature
Unit fifty-nine is about the properties of a person, and it is assembled with the same tails with which unit fifty assembled the properties of a thing. The only difference is which tail goes where. For example: “කම්මැලිකම නිසා වැඩේ පරක්කු වුණා” — Because of laziness the job was delayed. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Unit fifty-nine is about the properties of a person, and it is assembled with the same tails with which unit fifty assembled the properties of a thing. The only difference is which tail goes where.
-කම — the homely name of a property. From an adjective: කම්මැලි (kammæli) → කම්මැලිකම (laziness), මුරණ්ඩු (muraṇḍu) → මුරණ්ඩුකම (stubbornness), අවංක (avaṁka) → අවංකකම (decency), මෝඩ (mōḍa) → මෝඩකම (foolishness). The word sounds homely; it will be said about a child and about a neighbor.
-ත්වය — the literary name of a property. The same sense, but for a newspaper and a report: සමාන → සමානාත්මතාව (equality), ගරු (garu) → ගරුත්වය (authority), ස්ථාවර → ස්ථාවරත්වය (stability), විවිධ → විවිධත්වය (diversity). One and the same property often has both forms, and the choice is a choice of register.
-ශීලී — 'prone to'. From a noun it makes a feature of a person: ලැජ්ජා (shame) → ලැජ්ජාශීලී (shy), අධිෂ්ඨාන (resolve) → අධිෂ්ඨානශීලී (resolute), උපාය (a trick) → උපායශීලී (resourceful). The sense-mate tail -සුලු of u50 goes with a verb, while -ශීලී goes with a noun.
And half of the features are a participle, not an adjective. Where no ready word exists, Sinhala puts '...න කෙනා' — 'a person who': ඉක්මනට හිත රිදෙන කෙනෙක් (touchy), පහසුවෙන් එකඟ වෙන කෙනෙක් (easygoing), සියලු විස්තර බලන කෙනෙක් (thorough), කරන දේ කියන්න බැරි කෙනෙක් (unpredictable). This is the same device by which u40 named the professions, and it remains the main way to say about a person what no word covers.
Be careful with the already occupied words. The course keeps ප්රශංසා කරනවා (praśaṁsā karanavā) for 'to praise', දොස් කියනවා (dos kiyanavā) for 'to condemn', බොරු කියනවා (boru kiyanavā) for 'to lie', අනුකම්පාව (anukampāva) for 'compassion'. Therefore 'to give praise' here is හොඳයි කියලා කියනවා (hondayi kiyalā kiyanavā), 'to reproach' — බැණ වදිනවා (bæṇa vadinavā), 'to tell a fib' — බොරුවක් ගහනවා (boruvak gahanavā), 'pity' — දයාව (dayāva). These pairs are not synonyms: each has its own measure and its own register, and the hint names the difference.
Table
| Tail | Register | From what | What came out |
|---|---|---|---|
| -කම | homely | කම්මැලි — lazy | කම්මැලිකම — laziness |
| -කම | homely | අවංක — honest | අවංකකම — decency |
| -ත්වය | literary | ගරු — respected | ගරුත්වය — authority |
| -ත්වය | literary | ස්ථාවර — steady | ස්ථාවරත්වය — stability |
| -ශීලී | with a noun | ලැජ්ජා — shame | ලැජ්ජාශීලී — shy |
| -ශීලී | with a noun | උපාය — a trick | උපායශීලී — resourceful |
| -සුලු | with a verb | බිඳෙනවා — to break | බිඳෙනසුලු — fragile |
| ...න කෙනා | colloquial | හිත රිදෙනවා — the heart aches | ඉක්මනට හිත රිදෙන කෙනෙක් — touchy |
By example
- කම්මැලිකම නිසා වැඩේ පරක්කු වුණාkammælikama nisā væḍē parakku vuṇāBecause of laziness the job was delayed
- ගමේ එයාට ලොකු ගරුත්වයක් තියෙනවාgamē eyāṭa loku garutvayak tiyenavāIn the village he has great authority
- එයා ඉක්මනට හිත රිදෙන කෙනෙක්eyā ikmanaṭa hita ridena kenekHe is a touchy person
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 a character and a person’s feature: how does it work in Sinhala?
Unit fifty-nine is about the properties of a person, and it is assembled with the same tails with which unit fifty assembled the properties of a thing. The only difference is which tail goes where.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“කම්මැලිකම නිසා වැඩේ පරක්කු වුණා” (kammælikama nisā væḍē parakku vuṇā) — Because of laziness the job was delayed. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.