In the days leading up to my departure for Sri Lanka, my mom bought me a journal, my aunt bought me a journal, my grandma bought me a journal, all expecting pages full of descriptions of my Lankan Life for sharing when I get back home. Our program director, CR de Silva, regularly reminds us that ten percent of our Sri Lankan Studies Seminar course grade depends on a journal that we keep and submit to him on 1/11 (November 1st, for all the Americans out there). In response to these expectations to thoroughly record the happenings of these forty-or-so eventful days that have passed, I have made it my task to take a comprehensive inventory of all audial, visual, gustatory, olfactory, and cutaneous sensations that happen before me on any given day. It’s a full-time job, and unfortunately, all of this journaling has left me with little-to-no room in my schedule for socializing with others, eating, sleeping, and tending to widely-recognized standards of hygiene. Further, my right, writing-hand has grown so much larger and stronger than my left that I have began to receive comments and sideways looks from strangers.
On the bright side, my commitment to The Journal has provided me with comprehensive analytics on all Sinhala words spoken by ISLE students. For those playing along at home, here is a list of the most-frequently used Sinhala words by ISLE students. Hopefully this list will enable you to incorporate such words/phrases into everyday practice, or help you communicate with the ISLE-attending person in your life upon their return home. Here is the list:
aiyo: “Oh no.” Used to express fear, grief, dread, or embarrassment. For close calls, regrettable occurrences, or moments where you’d naturally wince, cringe, widen your eyes and gasp, or put your palm to your forehead. Can also be interpreted as “yikes.”
At Sigiriya, you have to be silent while climbing, or else the wasps come out. aiyo!
æti: “Enough.” ISLE students find this word incredibly useful while sharing meals with host families whose consumption expectations we often cannot keep up with.
My younger brother, Shane, giving me an entire plate full of jagriy (similar to hardened caramel). I could have (but did not) say æti.
epaa: “I do not want.” At the dinner table, epaa is sometimes interchangeable with æti. There are instances where æti does not do the trick, however. When interacting with zealous salesmen in Kandy city or a younger brother (malli) who wants to drop a wild draw 4 card to your dismay in the card game Uno, you can say epaa.
DJ offers me a wood apple. I’m a picky eater, not a big fan of the wood apple. epaa.
istutiy: “Thank you.” Used in thanking various people for their hospitality, kindness, generosity, stories, and smiles. Said more than anything else, and yet could not be said enough.
We showered our Sinhala professor, Amare (pictured here, twice), along with his family, in istutiys when they had us over for tea and snacks and songs and conversation.
masuran: “Cool,” slang. Usually held out, like “masuraaaan.”
2 ice cream cones? masuraaaan.
David on a motorcycle? goDak (very) masuraaaaaaan.
mokakdə?: “What?” Used frequently to ask simple questions: what is your name, what time is it, what are you doing this weekend. Despite being forty days used to Sri Lanka, we find ourselves encountering new situations daily. For this, we use mokakdə.
Sometimes we have trouble understanding the enigmatic sayings displayed on tuk-tuks. To “STREET BLOM,” we say, mokakdə?
lassanə: “Beautiful.” Can be applied to landscapes, works of art, feelings, people. Gender-neutral.
A particularly beautiful scene in Batticaloa.
pisu: “Crazy.” Carries the connotation of misbehavior. The adjective of the scoundrel.
Rigo, my family’s dog, embodies pisu. One of the ways he does this is when he performs his favorite trick. This involves taking our frisbee, running into the jungle with it, and never returning it.
Honorable Mentions: these words may not be used as frequently as those above, but they form an all-star team of Sinhala words, in their own unique ways.
brahaspatindaa: “Thursday.” Not all that useful, except when talking about Thursdays. Just happens to be the most beautiful word in the language, objectively speaking.
mal kadənəwaa: Literally “pick flowers.” Idiomatically “flirt.” I think it’s a sweet image.
keek, biit, liiks: “Cake, beet, leeks.”
pustəkaaləyaadipətiniyə: “Librarian,” feminine. The longest word we’ve learned. Has not been used a single time outside of the classroom, but has a lot of potential to impress.
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