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:

  • With an /aya/ or /uva/ added to Dutch words ending in consonants (e.g. raam > rāmuva).
  • With a /ya/ added to words ending in /a/ or /e/ or /i/ (e.g. bakje > bakkiya).
  • With the animate ending /yā/ added to Dutch words signifying living beings or (e.g. tolk > tōlkayā).
  • Initial /s/ preceding a consonant usually forms an additional syllable (e.g. school > iskōlaya).

Nouns and Adjectives

[1][2][3]

SinhalaසිංහලMeaningDutchMeaningType
administrāsiyaඅද්මිනිස්ත්‍රාසියAdministrationAdministratieAdministrationAdministration
advakātඅද්වකාත්Lawyer, advocateAdvocaatLawyerAdministration
agastiඅගස්තිAgateAgateAgateDaily
amanda, amandälඅමන්ද, අමන්දැල්AlmondAmandelAlmondFood
ambilaඅම්බිලAnvilAambeeldAnvilDaily
artāpalඅර්තාපල්PotatoAardappelPotatoFood
äpäälaඇපෑලcorporation AppelAppealAdministration
āsiyāආසියAceAasAceDaily
avagārayaඅවගාරයAugerAvegaarAugerConstruction
bācciyaබාච්චියJacketBaadjeJacketClothing
bakkiyaබක්කියsmall trough or boxBakjeSmall trough or boxConstruction
balansaබලන්සbalanceBalansBalanceDaily
bāliyaබාලියTubBalieTubDaily
balkonaබල්කොනbalconyBalkonBalconyConstruction
bālkayaබාල්කයBeam/RafterBalkBeamConstruction
banketaබාන්සියBanquetteBanketBanquetteConstruction
bānsiyaබාන්සියBerthBaantjeBerthConstruction
bāsබාස්MasonBaasBoss, leaderConstruction
bavusaබවුසTubeBuisTubeDaily
belekබෙලෙක්TinBlikjeTinDaily
beliyataබෙලියතPlacard, Notice of SaleBerichtNoticeDaily
bōkkuvaබෝක්කුවArchBoogArchDaily
bōnciබෝංචිBean(s)BoontjeBeanFood
bōrdayaබෝර්දයBorderBoordEdge, BorderDaily
būdalayaබූදලයEstate/PropertyBoerderijEstateAdministration
būndalaබූන්දලBundleBundelBundleDaily
būruvāබුරුවාJack/KnaveBoerFarmerDaily
dānදාංDraughtsDammenDraughtsDaily
dāsiyaදාසියTieDasTieClothing
däälaදෑලDaleDalDaleDaily
dusimaදුසිමDozenDozijnDozenDaily
hākkayaහාක්කයHookHaakHookDaily
hārnālaහාර්නාලHairpinHaarnaaldHairpinDaily
hārataහාරතHeartsHartenHeartsDaily
hēraහේරාKingHeerMister, SirDaily
hundāහුන්දාHoundHondDogDaily
jasa, jäsaජස, ජැසJacketJasJacketClothing
isnibonchiGreen beansSnijboontjesGreen beanfood
istirikkayaඉස්තිරික්කයIronStrijkijzerIronDaily
iskōppaඉස්කෝප්පSpadesSchoppenSpadesDaily
istālayaඉස්තාලයStall, StableStalStallConstruction
istōppuvaඉස්තෝප්පුවVerandaStoepSide WalkConstruction
kakkussiyaකක්කුස්සියToiletKakhuisjekak "feces" + huisje "small house"Daily
kalābaraකලාබරClubsKlaverenClubsDaily
kāmarayaකාමරයRoomKamerRoomConstruction
kanālaකනාලCanalKanaalCanalConstruction
kantōruvaකන්තෝරුවOfficeKantoorOfficeAdministration
kaḷukumāකලුකුමාTurkeyKalkoenTurkeyFood
kanomaකනොමCannonKanonCannonMilitary
kapōtiකපෝතිBroken, exhaustedKapotBroken, exhaustedDaily
karāmayaකරාමයTapKraanTapDaily
kāsiyaකාසියCoinkwartjeQuarterDaily
kastanකස්තන්ChestnutkastanjeChestnutDaily
kompäniyaකොම්පැනියCompanyCompagnieCompanyAdministration
kārtuvaකාර්තුවCardkaartjeCardDaily
kärakōppuvaකැරකෝප්පුවCemeteryKerkhofCemeteryDaily
kētalayaකේතලයKettleKetelKettleFood
klavīraක්ලාවිරPianoKlavierDaily
klääsiyaක්ලාසියClassKlasseClassDaily
kokisකොකිස්Type of fried traditional foodKoekjesBiscuitFood
kondēsiyaකොන්දේසියConditionConditieConditionDaily
kōkiyāකෝකියාCookKokinCookDaily
kōpiකෝපිCoffeeKoffieCoffeeDaily
kōppayaකෝප්පයCupKopCupDaily
koromaකොරොමCrownKroonCrownDaily
kulunaColumnColonneColumnDaily
kuyitansiyaකුයිතන්සියReceiptKwitantieReceiptAdministration
lantaලන්තLandLandLand, CountryAdministration
lappiyaලප්පියPatchLapjeLapClothing
läinලැයින්GlueLijmGlueDaily
lavandäl, lavandelලවන්දෙල්LavenderLavendelLavenderBotanical
lei leiලෙයි ලෙයිMixedAllerleiAll kinds ofDaily
londaලොන්දBlondBlondBlondBotanical
lūpaලූපGun BarrelLoopBarrelMilitary
maḍaමඩMudModderMudDaily
mīlaමීලMealMeelMealDaily
minciමිංචිMintMuntjeMintFood
mōlaමෝලMillMolenMillTrade
näälaනෑලNeedleNaaldNeedleDaily
notārisනොතාරිස්NotaryNotarisNotaryAdministration
oralōsuvaඔරලෝසුවClockHorloge (from French)Wrist WatchDaily
panīlaපනීලPanelPaneelPanelDaily
pelsaපෙල්සFurPelsFurDaily
petoraපෙතොරCartridePatroonCartridgeMilitary
pispontuvaපිටසැලිBackstichBackstichDaily
piṭasäliපිටසැලිParsleyPeterselieParsleyFood
plāප්ලාCustardVlaCustardFood
poroppayaපොරොප්පයCorkProp, KurkPlug, CorkDaily
porovaපොරොවQueenVrouwLadyDaily
proklamāsiyaප්‍රොක්ලමාසියProclamationProclamatieProclamationAdministration
pūliපූලිMaceFoelieMaceFood
pūsāපූසාCatPoesCatAnimal
puyarපුයර්PowderPoeierPowderDaily
rākkayaරාක්කයRackRekRackDaily
rāmuvaරාමුවFrameRaamFrameDaily
rikatරිකත්RichardRikkertRichardProper Name
ruhitaරිකත්DiamondsRuitenDiamondsDaily
säldiriසැල්දිරිCelerySelderijCeleryFood
säädalaසෑදලSaddleZadelSaddleDaily
seldukසෙල්දුක්CanvasZeildoekCanvasDaily
sipiri, sipiyāසිපිරි, සිපියාJailer, WardenCipierJailerAdministration
sōppiyaසෝප්පියShotSchopShotDaily
tarappuvaතරප්පුවStairsTrapStairsConstruction
tēpōcciyaතේපෝච්චියTeapotTheepotTea potDaily
tintalතින්තල්TinderTintelTinderDaily
tisālaතිසාලTileTegelTileDaily
testamēntuvaතෙස්තමේන්තුවTestamentTestamentTestamentAdministration
tōlkayāතෝල්කයාInterpreterTolkInterpreterAdministration
vāpanaවාපනCoat of ArmsWapenInsigniaDaily
vatalවතල්CarrotWortelCarrotfood
vaturaවතුරWaterWaterWaterDaily
vendēsiyaවෙන්දේසියAuctionVendutieAuctionAdministration
vinkalaවින්කලWorkshopWinkelShopDaily
viyaltiවියල්තිVioletViooltjeVioletDaily
vulවුල්WoolWolWoolDaily

Verbs
SinhalaසිංහලMeaningDutchMeaning
bikel karanavāබිකෙල් කරනවාto EngraveBickelento Engrave
kēvel karanavāකේවල කරනවාto Hagglekibbelento Haggle
ploit karanavāප්ලෝයිත් කරනවාto WhistleFluitento Whistle
taksēru karanavāතක්සේරු කරනවාto Appraisetaxerento Appraise
tisal gahanavāතිසල් ගහනවාto Tiletegelento Tile
tōlka karanavāතෝල්ක කරනවාto InterpretvertolkenTo Interpret
trānslāt karanavāත්‍රාන්ස්ලාත් කරනවාto TranslatetranslaterenTo Translate
vendēsi karanavāවෙන්දේසි කරනවාto Auctionvendutieto 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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