මහල්ලා
“මහල්ලා” (mahallā) — old man in Sinhala. Noun, level A2, topic — people and family. A blunt, almost rude word. To the man himself one says sēyā, 'grandpa', or 'an aged person'. In a live sentence: “මහල්ලා පුටුවේ ඉන්නවා” — The old man is sitting on a chair. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ම, හ, ල, ්, ල, ා. One of 142 words in the set “people and family” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | මහල්ලා |
| Read in Latin letters | mahallā |
| Translation | old man |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- මහල්ලාmahallāold man
Why it looks that way
A blunt, almost rude word. To the man himself one says sēyā, 'grandpa', or 'an aged person'
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.
- මහල්ලා පුටුවේ ඉන්නවාmahallā puṭuvē innavāThe old man is sitting on a chair
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- යාළුවාyāḷuvāfriendThe ending -ā marks the living: people and animals have it, things don't. The plural is yāḷuvō. A 'heavy' l sits in the middle
- පවුලpavulafamilyFamily in the narrow sense — parents and children. Kin in general has its own word. 'In the family' adds -ē
- අම්මාammāmomThe doubled m is held long, and the final -ā is obligatory: without it you get a word that doesn't exist. Address and mention share one word; yours or someone else's is told by the possessive
- තාත්තාtāttādadTwo long vowels in a row: 'taat-taa'. Respectful and bookish for father is another word; in the family people say only this one
- ළමයාḷamayāchildIt starts with the 'heavy' l. The plural, 'children', is heard more often than the singular. About one's own child people rather say 'son' or 'daughter'
- මුදලාලිmudalālishopkeeperThe owner of the shop, and at the same time the polite way to address him: 'Shopkeeper, how much?' — this is how the price talk starts
- ගනුදෙනුකරුවාganudenukaruvāshopperLiterally 'the one who makes the deal': ganudenu is trade. The ending -vā marks the living, as in 'friend'. In speech people often just say the English 'customer'
- අසල්වැසියාasalvæsiyāneighborLiterally 'the one living near': asal is nearby. The ending -yā marks the living; the plural is asalvæsiyō
- ගෙදර අයිතිකාරයාgedara āyitikārayālandlordLiterally 'the owner of the house': ayitiya is the right of ownership. One doesn't address him so but by age: aiyā, 'big brother', or mahattayā, 'sir'
- විශ්රාමිකයාviśrāmikayāretireeFrom vishrāma, 'repose', a Sanskrit root. 'To retire' is literally 'to go to repose'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “old man” in Sinhala?
A blunt, almost rude word. To the man himself one says sēyā, 'grandpa', or 'an aged person'
- How do you say “shopper” in Sinhala?
Literally 'the one who makes the deal': ganudenu is trade. The ending -vā marks the living, as in 'friend'. In speech people often just say the English 'customer'
- How do you say “mom” in Sinhala?
The doubled m is held long, and the final -ā is obligatory: without it you get a word that doesn't exist. Address and mention share one word; yours or someone else's is told by the possessive
- How do you say “retiree” in Sinhala?
From vishrāma, 'repose', a Sanskrit root. 'To retire' is literally 'to go to repose'
- How do you say “shopkeeper” in Sinhala?
The owner of the shop, and at the same time the polite way to address him: 'Shopkeeper, how much?' — this is how the price talk starts
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 “old man” in Sinhala?
«මහල්ලා», read “mahallā”. In a live sentence: “මහල්ලා පුටුවේ ඉන්නවා” — The old man is sitting on a chair. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters ම, හ, ල, ්, ල, ා.
How is “මහල්ලා” written in Latin letters?
mahallā. 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?
A blunt, almost rude word. To the man himself one says sēyā, 'grandpa', or 'an aged person'. 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.