ගැහැණිය
“ගැහැණිය” (gæhæṇiya) — woman in Sinhala. Noun, level A1, topic — people and family. gæhæṇu means 'female': a girl is a 'female child'. On signs and in announcements the bookish kānthāvā stands; the spoken gæṇi fits only one's own wife. In a live sentence: “ඒ ගැහැණිය මගේ අම්මා” — That woman is my mother. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ග, ැ, හ, ැ, ණ, ි, ය.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ගැහැණිය |
| Read in Latin letters | gæhæṇiya |
| Translation | woman |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- ගැහැණියgæhæṇiyawoman
Why it looks that way
gæhæṇu means 'female': a girl is a 'female child'. On signs and in announcements the bookish kānthāvā stands; the spoken gæṇi fits only one's own wife
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.
- ඒ ගැහැණිය මගේ අම්මාē gæhæṇiya magē ammāThat woman is my mother
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 “woman” in Sinhala?
gæhæṇu means 'female': a girl is a 'female child'. On signs and in announcements the bookish kānthāvā stands; the spoken gæṇi fits only one's own wife
- 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 “woman” in Sinhala?
«ගැහැණිය», read “gæhæṇiya”. In a live sentence: “ඒ ගැහැණිය මගේ අම්මා” — That woman is my mother. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters ග, ැ, හ, ැ, ණ, ි, ය.
How is “ගැහැණිය” written in Latin letters?
gæhæṇiya. 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?
gæhæṇu means 'female': a girl is a 'female child'. On signs and in announcements the bookish kānthāvā stands; the spoken gæṇi fits only one's own wife. 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.