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Sinhala honorifics

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In the Sinhalese language, it is almost always compulsory for the speaker or writer to take into account the importance of the subject and of the object when constructing a sentence. Sinhalese uses a vast collection of honorifics to reflect the speaker's relationship with the subject and object of the sentence, and it also reveals the level of importance the society or the writer has given to them. In the present stage of the language, honorifics are mostly used in the literary language as opposed to in the vernacular, and their use is being gradually limited to only formal occasions.

Noun Honorifics

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Inanimate Nouns

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When talking about an object that holds superiority or importance, or an object which has been given superior status, these honorifics are used. They can only be used in the literary language and play an essential part in Sinhala literature. Usually, the word is replaced by its "tatsama" counterpart for this, as in the word කෑම-kǣma (food) becomes the tatsama word භෝජන-bhōjana (food) just to emphasize the given importance. The honorifics හු-hu and ඕ-ō are usually used after this in plural form and the verb also is changed accordingly to its plural form, something that is not done to normal inanimate plurals. This changes the perspective of the object to the state the writer has given it, and thus advocates more beauty and grandeur to the sentence.[1]

ex:

තරු

tharu

අහසේ

ahasē

දිදුලයි.

điđulayi.

තරු අහසේ දිදුලයි.

tharu ahasē điđulayi.

the stars shine in the sky (singular)

ex:

තාරකාවෝ

thārakāwō

අහසේ

ahasē

දිදුලති

điđulathi

තාරකාවෝ අහසේ දිදුලති

thārakāwō ahasē điđulathi

the stars[honorific] shine in the sky (plural)

When referring to the religious and holy objects or relics in Sinhala, the honorific වහන්සේ-wahansē is sometimes used.[2]

ex:

දළඳා

đaļaňđā

වහන්සේ

wahansē

දළඳා වහන්සේ

đaļaňđā wahansē

the tooth relic of Lord Buddha

ex:

වෙහෙර

wehera

වහන්සේ

wahansē

වෙහෙර වහන්සේ

wehera wahansē

the stupa

ex:

දෙවියන්

Deviyan

වහන්සේ

wahanse

දෙවියන් වහන්සේ

Deviyan wahanse

God

Animate Nouns

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A legion of honorifics are in use in the present Sinhala language to accentuate the social and ethical importance of the people the speaker or writer is addressing. Generally, elders, teachers, strangers, political/spiritual leaders, renowned people and customers in the Sinhala society are referred to with honorifics, while the younger people and students are not. The incorrect use of honorifics can lead to confusions, and are often thought as sarcastic remarks.

Ex: When calling someone younger than you as ඔබ තුමා-oba thumā it can mean that you are sarcastic about the younger one's boastful and prejudiced attitude.

The most common honorifics in Sinhala language are වහන්සේ-wahansē (venerable), හාමුදුරුවෝ-hāmuđuruwō (monk/venerable), තෙමේ-themē (sir), තොමෝ-thomō (madam), මයා-mayā (Mr.), මිය-miya (Mrs.), ඕ-ō, හු-hu and දෑ-đǣ, with all of them joining at the end of a noun. The suffixes ආණ-āņa, අණු-aņu, අණි-aņi used at the end of elders' names in the literary language also add honor to the salutations. As a rule, when using those 3 animate honorifics, the verb is always changed to its plural form.[3]

ex:

පිය

piya

+

+

ආණ

āņa

+

+

ō

=

=

පියාණෝ

piyāņō

පිය + ආණ + ඕ = පියාණෝ

piya + āņa + ō = piyāņō

father

ex:

පියා

piyā

ගෙදර

geđara

එයි

eyi

පියා ගෙදර එයි

piyā geđara eyi

father comes home

ex:

පියාණෝ

piyāņō

ගෙදර

geđara

එති

ethi

පියාණෝ ගෙදර එති

piyāņō geđara ethi

father comes[come] home

ex:

පුත්

puth

+

+

අණු

aņu

+

+

ō

=

=

පුතණුවෝ

puthaņuwō

පුත් + අණු + ඕ = පුතණුවෝ

puth + aņu + ō = puthaņuwō

son

ex:

පුතණුවෝ

puthaņuwō

පාඩම්

pādam

කරති

karathi

පුතණුවෝ පාඩම් කරති

puthaņuwō pādam karathi

son studies[study]

ex:

හාමුදුරුවෝ

hāmuđuruwō

බණ

baņa

දෙසති

đesathi

හාමුදුරුවෝ බණ දෙසති

hāmuđuruwō baņa đesathi

venerable preach[es] a sermon

Verb Honorifics

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Any verb in Sinhala can be converted into an honorific by simply changing it into its plural form. Ex:ගියේය-giyēya(went) into ගියහ-giyaha(went[plural]) However, when referring to a royal or a venerable, verbs are changed either into their unique honorific forms or their plural "tatsama" forms.

ex:

හිමි

himi

+

+

ō

=

=

හිමියෝ

himiyō

හිමි + ඕ = හිමියෝ

himi + ō = himiyō

venerable monk

ex:

මම

mama

කෑම

kǣma

කෑවෙමි

[kǣwemi]

මම කෑම කෑවෙමි

mama kǣma [kǣwemi]

I [ate] supper.

ex:

හිමියෝ

himiyō

දන්

đan

වළඳති

[waļaňđathi]

හිමියෝ දන් වළඳති

himiyō đan [waļaňđathi]

the monk [eats] supper.

ex:

හිමිවරු

himiwaru

දන්

đan

වැළැඳූහ

[wæļæňđūha]

හිමිවරු දන් වැළැඳූහ

himiwaru đan [wæļæňđūha]

monks [ate] supper.

The words සේක-sēka and දෑය-đǣya are used at the end of the verbs in sentences beginning with the honorifics වහන්සේ-wahansē and දෑ-đǣ respectively.

In Address and Request

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The honorific නි-ni can be seen on formal salutations and in works of literature. Usually it is adjoined with the addressing honorifics තුමා-thumā or තුමී-thumī:

ex:

දෙවියනි

đewiyani

දෙවියනි

đewiyani

my god

ex:

ගුරුතුමනි

guruthumani

ගුරුතුමනි

guruthumani

dear teacher

ex:

රජතුමනි

rajathumani

රජතුමනි

rajathumani

my king

නේ-nē is used when talking to give the same meaning:

ex:

බුදුනේ

buđunē

බුදුනේ

buđunē

my lord buddha

ex:

දෙවියනේ

đewiyanē

දෙවියනේ

đewiyanē

my god

ex:

ජේසුනි

Jesuni

ජේසුනි

Jesuni

my Jesus

ex:

අම්මේ

ammē

අම්මේ

ammē

dear mother

When requesting something to be done, මැනවි-mænawi is written at the end of a verb that is in order form. It is now only used in written works and historical plays.

ex:

දෙන්න

đenna

give

මැනවි

mænawi

request

දෙනුමැනවි

đenumænawi

 

දෙන්න මැනවි දෙනුමැනවි

đenna mænawi đenumænawi

give request {}

(I) ask that (you) give.

In the early colloquial Sinhala, the honorific suffix ņdi was used when addressing elder relatives and family members. After the colonial rule, these practices had been eventually abandoned.

ex:

අම්මා

ammā

+

+

ණ්ඩි

ņdi

=

=

අම්මණ්ඩි

ammaņdi

අම්මා + ණ්ඩි = අම්මණ්ඩි

ammā + ņdi = ammaņdi

mother

ex:

අක්කා

akkā

+

+

ණ්ඩි

ņdi

=

=

අක්කණ්ඩි

akkaņdi

අක්කා + ණ්ඩි = අක්කණ්ඩි

akkā + ņdi = akkaņdi

elder sister

ex:

අයියා

ayiyā

+

+

ණ්ඩි

ņdi

=

=

අයියණ්ඩි

ayiyaņdi

අයියා + ණ්ඩි = අයියණ්ඩි

ayiyā + ņdi = ayiyaņdi

elder brother

See also

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References

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