List of Sinhala words of Dutch origin

This is a list of Sinhala words of Dutch origin.

Note: For information on the transcription used, see National Library at Calcutta romanization. An exception from the standard is the romanization of Sinhala long "ä" ([æː]) as "ää".

Sinhala words of Dutch origin came about during the period of Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka between 1658 and 1798. This period saw absorption of several Dutch words into the local language brought about by the interaction between Dutch colonials and the Sinhalese people, mainly in the coastal areas of the island. The Dutch replaced the Portuguese as the catalyst of change with regards to the social and cultural life of the people. A wide variety of words were adopted from administrative terms to military terms, which reveals several points of contact between the two groups.

Types of loanwords

Borrowings

The words pertaining to the fields of daily life, administration, food and military are the most numerous; this is to be expected because of many new innovations and goods that reached Sri Lanka via the Dutch.

The borrowing process

Dutch loanwords in Sinhala rarely appear in the same form as the original word. Usually, a word has undergone some kind of modification to fit into the Sinhala phonological or morphological system (e.g. balk becomes bālkaya because Sinhala inanimate nouns (see grammatical gender) need to end with /a/, [ə], in order to be declineable).

These are the main ways Dutch words are incorporated into the Sinhala lexicon with different endings:

Nouns and Adjectives

[1][2][3]

Sinhala සිංහල Meaning Dutch Meaning Type
administrāsiya අද්මිනිස්ත්‍රාසිය Administration Administratie Administration Administration
advakāt අද්වකාත් Lawyer, advocate Advocaat Lawyer Administration
agasti අගස්ති Agate Agate Agate Daily
amanda, amandäl අමන්ද, අමන්දැල් Almond Amandel Almond Food
ambila අම්බිල Anvil Aambeeld Anvil Daily
artāpal අර්තාපල් Potato Aardappel Potato Food
äpääla ඇපෑල Appeal Appel Appeal Administration
āsiyā ආසිය Ace Aas Ace Daily
avagāraya අවගාරය Auger Avegaar Auger Construction
bācciya බාච්චිය Jacket Baadje Jacket Clothing
bakkiya බක්කිය small trough or box Bakje Small trough or box Construction
balansa බලන්ස balance Balans Balance Daily
bāliya බාලිය Tub Balie Tub Daily
balkona බල්කොන balcony Balkon Balcony Construction
bālkaya බාල්කය Beam/Rafter Balk Beam Construction
banketa බාන්සිය Banquette Banket Banquette Construction
bānsiya බාන්සිය Berth Baantje Berth Construction
bās බාස් Mason Baas Boss, leader Construction
bavusa බවුස Tube Buis Tube Daily
belek බෙලෙක් Tin Blikje Tin Daily
beliyata බෙලියත Placard, Notice of Sale Bericht Notice Daily
bōkkuva බෝක්කුව Arch Boog Arch Daily
bōnci බෝංචි Bean(s) Boontje Bean Food
bōrdaya බෝර්දය Border Boorde Edge, Border Daily
būdalaya බූදලය Estate/Property Boerderij Estate Administration
būndala බූන්දල Bundle Bundel Bundle Daily
būruvā බුරුවා Jack/Knave Boer Farmer Daily
dān දාං Draughts Dammen Draughts Daily
dāsiya දාසිය Tie Das Tie Clothing
dääla දෑල Dale Dal Dale Daily
dusima දුසිම Dozen Dozijn Dozen Daily
hākkaya හාක්කය Hook Haak Hook Daily
hārnāla හාර්නාල Hairpin Haarnaald Hairpin Daily
hārata හාරත Hearts Harten Hearts Daily
hēra හේරා King Heer Mister, Sir Daily
hundā හුන්දා Hound Hond Dog Daily
jasa, jäsa ජස, ජැස Jacket Jas Jacket Clothing
isnibonchi Green beans Snijboontjes Green bean food
istirikkaya ඉස්තිරික්කය Iron Strijkijzer Iron Daily
iskōppa ඉස්කෝප්ප Spades Schoppen Spades Daily
istālaya ඉස්තාලය Stall, Stable Stal Stall Construction
istōppuva ඉස්තෝප්පුව Veranda Stoep Side Walk Construction
kakkussiya කක්කුස්සිය Toilet Kakhuisje kak "feces" + huisje "small house" Daily
kalābara කලාබර Clubs Klaveren Clubs Daily
kāmaraya කාමරය Room Kamer Room Construction
kanāla කනාල Canal Kanaal Canal Construction
kantōruva කන්තෝරුව Office Kantoor Office Administration
kaḷukumā කලුකුමා Turkey Kalkoen Turkey Food
kanoma කනොම Cannon Kanon Cannon Military
kapōti කපෝති Broken, exhausted Kapot Broken, exhausted Daily
karāmaya කරාමය Tap Kraan Tap Daily
kāsiya කාසිය Coin kwartje Quarter Daily
kastan කස්තන් Chestnut kastanje Chestnut Daily
kompäniya කොම්පැනිය Company Compagnie Company Administration
kārtuva කාර්තුව Card kaartje Card Daily
kärakōppuva කැරකෝප්පුව Cemetery Kerkhof Cemetery Daily
kētalaya කේතලය Kettle Ketel Kettle Food
klavīra ක්ලාවිර Piano Klavier Daily
klääsiya ක්ලාසිය Class Klasse Class Daily
kokis කොකිස් Type of fried traditional food Koekjes Biscuit Food
kondēsiya කොන්දේසිය Condition Conditie Condition Daily
kōkiyā කෝකියා Cook Kokin Cook Daily
kōpi කෝපි Coffee Koffie Coffee Daily
kōppaya කෝප්පය Cup Kop Cup Daily
koroma කොරොම Crown Kroon Crown Daily
kuluna Column Colonne Column Daily
kuyitansiya කුයිතන්සිය Receipt Kwitantie Receipt Administration
lanta ලන්ත Land Landt Land, Country Administration
lappiya ලප්පිය Patch Lapje Lap Clothing
läin ලැයින් Glue Lijm Glue Daily
lavandäl, lavandel ලවන්දෙල් Lavender Lavendel Lavender Botanical
lei lei ලෙයි ලෙයි Mixed Allerlei All kinds of Daily
londa ලොන්ද Blond Blond Blond Botanical
lūpa ලූප Gun Barrel Loop Barrel Military
maḍa මඩ Mud Modder Mud Daily
mīla මීල Meal Meel Meal Daily
minci මිංචි Mint Muntje Mint Food
mōla මෝල Mill Molen Mill Trade
nääla නෑල Needle Naald Needle Daily
notāris නොතාරිස් Notary Notaris Notary Administration
oralōsuva ඔරලෝසුව Clock Horloge (from French) Wrist Watch Daily
panīla පනීල Panel Paneel Panel Daily
pelsa පෙල්ස Fur Pels Fur Daily
petora පෙතොර Cartride Patroon Cartridge Military
pispontuva පිටසැලි Backstich Backstich Daily
piṭasäli පිටසැලි Parsley Peterselie Parsley Food
plā ප්ලා Custard Vla Custard Food
poroppaya පොරොප්පය Cork Prop, Kurk Plug, Cork Daily
porova පොරොව Queen Vrouw Lady Daily
proklamāsiya ප්‍රොක්ලමාසිය Proclamation Proclamatie Proclamation Administration
pūli පූලි Mace Foelie Mace Food
pūsā පූසා Cat Poes Cat Animal
puyar පුයර් Powder Poeier Powder Daily
rākkaya රාක්කය Rack Rek Rack Daily
rāmuva රාමුව Frame Raam Frame Daily
rikat රිකත් Richard Rikkert Richard Proper Name
ruhita රිකත් Diamonds Ruiten Diamonds Daily
säldiri සැල්දිරි Celery Selderij Celery Food
säädala සෑදල Saddle Zadel Saddle Daily
selduk සෙල්දුක් Canvas Zeilduk Canvas Daily
sipiri, sipiyā සිපිරි, සිපියා Jailer, Warden Cipier Jailer Administration
sōppiya සෝප්පිය Shot Schop Shot Daily
tarappuva තරප්පුව Stairs Trap Stairs Construction
tēpōcciyaතේපෝච්චිය Teapot Theepot Tea pot Daily
tintal තින්තල් Tinder Tintel Tinder Daily
tisāla තිසාල Tile Tichel Tile Daily
testamēntuva තෙස්තමේන්තුව Testament Testament Testament Administration
tōlkayā තෝල්කයා Interpreter Tolk Interpreter Administration
vāpana වාපන Coat of Arms Wapen Insignia Daily
vatal වතල් Carrot Wortel Carrot food
vatura වතුර Water Water Water Daily
vendēsiya වෙන්දේසිය Auction Vendutie Auction Administration
vinkala වින්කල Workshop Winkel Shop Daily
viyalti වියල්ති Violet Violtje Violet Daily
vul වුල් Wool Wol Wool Daily

Verbs

Sinhala සිංහල Meaning Dutch Meaning
bikel karanavā බිකෙල් කරනවා to Engrave Bickelen to Engrave
kēvel karanavā කේවල කරනවා to Haggle kibbelen to Haggle
ploit karanavā ප්ලෝයිත් කරනවා to Whistle Fluiten to Whistle
taksēru karanavā තක්සේරු කරනවා to Appraise taxeren to Appraise
tisal gahanavā තිසල් ගහනවා to Tile tegelen to Tile
tōlka karanavā තෝල්ක කරනවා to Interpret vertolken To Interpret
trānslāt karanavā ත්‍රාන්ස්ලාත් කරනවා to Translate translateren To Translate
vendēsi karanavā වෙන්දේසි කරනවා to Auction vendutie to Auction

See also

References

  1. Carter, Charles (1924). A Sinhalese-English Dictionary. Asian Educational Services.
  2. Sannasgala, Punci Baṇdara (1976). A Study of Sinhala Vocables of Dutch Origin.
  3. Meyler, Michael (2007). A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English. Samayawardhana Printers.
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