ඉංගිරිසි
“ඉංගිරිසි” (iṁgirisi) — English (language) in Sinhala. Noun, level A1. The word English itself, chewed over by Sinhala sounds: the e turned into i and an extra vowel grew at the end. For the person there's a different shape — iṁgrīsi jātikayek. In a live sentence: “ඔයා ඉංගිරිසි කතා කරනවද?” — Do you speak English? You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ඉ, ං, ග, ි, ර, ි, ස, ි. A word from the everyday Sinhala course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ඉංගිරිසි |
| Read in Latin letters | iṁgirisi |
| Translation | English (language) |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- ඉංගිරිසිiṁgirisiEnglish (language)
Why it looks that way
The word English itself, chewed over by Sinhala sounds: the e turned into i and an extra vowel grew at the end. For the person there's a different shape — iṁgrīsi jātikayek
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ඔයා ඉංගිරිසි කතා කරනවද?oyā iṁgirisi katā karanavada?Do you speak English?
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “English (language)” in Sinhala?
«ඉංගිරිසි», read “iṁgirisi”. In a live sentence: “ඔයා ඉංගිරිසි කතා කරනවද?” — Do you speak English? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1; written with the characters ඉ, ං, ග, ි, ර, ි, ස, ි.
How is “ඉංගිරිසි” written in Latin letters?
iṁgirisi. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The word English itself, chewed over by Sinhala sounds: the e turned into i and an extra vowel grew at the end. For the person there's a different shape — iṁgrīsi jātikayek. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.