In Part 1 of Spices in Sinhala, I asked *YOU* to send in all the spice-related phrases *YOU* could think that may come in handy.
(Make sure you read that post first, friend-o)
I also thought it’d be fun to throw in the “behind-the-scenes-blooper photos” of when we took the above photo. You’ll find it somewhere in the middle of the post.
Alright, lot of new phrases to learn so let’s get this started >>>
Note: In the phrases below, I’ve used “salt” as an example everywhere. Substitute this with any of the spices you saw in Part 1.
General Spice-Related Phrases
I like to eat spicy food | ma∙mȧ sæ∙rȧ kǣ∙mȧ kan∙nȧ aa∙sayi1 | |
I like Sri Lankan spices | ma∙mȧ lan∙kaa∙vé ku∙lu ba∙du vȧ∙lȧ∙tȧ aa∙sayi2 | |
My favorite spice is [salt] | ma∙gé aa∙sȧ∙mȧ ku∙lu ba∙du∙wȧ [lu∙nu]3 |
My Random Notes:
1 ‘kǣ∙mȧ’ = “food”; ‘sæ∙rȧ’ = “spicy” (in this example). ‘sæ∙rȧ’ can also means “bad tempered”
2 ‘lan∙kaa∙vé’ = “of Sri Lanka” (when speaking, you can usually drop the “Sri”); ‘ku∙lu ba∙du’ = “spices”
3 ‘aa∙sȧ∙mȧ’ = “most liked”; ‘ku∙lu ba∙du∙wȧ’ = “spice” (singular)
While Cooking
What are you making? | o∙yaa ha∙dhan∙né mo∙kak∙dhȧ? | |
What spices do you use in [dhal curry]? | [pa∙rip∙pu] ha∙dhȧ∙nȧ ko∙tȧ dhaan∙né mo∙nȧ∙va∙dhȧ?4 |
My Random Notes:
4 ‘pa∙rip∙pu’ = “dhal curry”; ‘ha∙dhȧ∙nȧ ko∙tȧ’ = “when/while making”; This sentence literally reads as “When making dhal curry, what do you put?”
How much do I put in? | ma∙mȧ koch∙chȧ∙rak dhaan∙nȧ∙dhȧ?5 | |
How much [salt]? | [lu∙nu] koch∙chȧ∙rak∙dhȧ? | |
In what order should I add these? | ma∙mȧ mḗ∙va dhaan∙né mo∙nȧ pi∙li∙vé∙lȧ∙tȧ∙dhȧ?6 | |
Powdered or seeds? | ku∙du∙dhȧ æ∙tȧ∙dhȧ?7 | |
is it ripe? | ḗ∙kȧ i∙dhi∙la∙dhȧ? |
My Random Notes:
5 ‘koch∙chȧ∙rak’ = “how much”; ‘ma∙mȧ dhaan∙nȧ∙dhȧ?’ = “Shall I put?”
6 ‘pi∙li∙vé∙lȧ∙tȧ’ = “to an order/sequence”; ‘mo∙nȧ’ = “which?”
7 ‘ku∙du’ = “powder/flakes”; ‘æ∙tȧ’ = “seeds”
Add extra [salt] | [lu∙nu] væ∙di∙yén dhaan∙nȧ8 | |
Add more [salt] | [lu∙nu] tha∙wȧ dhaan∙nȧ | |
Add less [salt] | [lu∙nu] a∙du∙wén dhaan∙nȧ | |
Go get some [salt] | gi∙hil∙la [lu∙nu] pod∙dak a∙ran én∙nȧ |
My Random Notes:
8 Instead of ‘væ∙di∙yén’ you might sometimes hear ‘væ∙di∙pu∙rȧ’; ‘dhaan∙nȧ’ = “put” (as a command/instruction)
When Buying Spices
I want to buy Sri Lankan spices | ma∙tȧ lan∙kaa∙vé ku∙lu ba∙du gan∙nȧ ō∙né9 | |
I want to buy [salt] | ma∙tȧ [lu∙nu] gan∙nȧ ō∙né10 | |
Where can I buy [salt]? | ma∙tȧ [lu∙nu] gan∙nȧ pu∙lu∙wan ko∙hén∙dhȧ?11 |
My Random Notes:
9 ‘ma∙tȧ ō∙né’ = “I want” (see my post “I want in Sinhala”)
10 ‘gan∙nȧ’ can mean both “take” or “buy”. You can be more specific and say ‘sal∙li vȧ∙lȧ∙tȧ gan∙nȧ’ which means “take for money” (or “buy”)
11 ‘ko∙hén∙dhȧ?’ = “from where?” (see my post “21 Sinhala Phrases”)
Mid-Post Mini-Break: The 4 Bites of Stupidity
To my inner-voice that convinced me to bite into the green chillie to make the photo more authentic:
“Screw you, Sir.”
Now don’t ever say I didn’t suffer for my art :)
At a Restaurant
Make it spicy | kǣ∙mȧ sæ∙rȧ∙tȧ ha∙dhan∙nȧ12 | |
Sri Lankan spicy, not foreigner spicy | lan∙kaa∙vé gaa∙nȧ∙tȧ, pi∙tȧ∙ra∙tȧ ka∙ti∙yé gaa∙nȧ∙tȧ né∙méyi13 | |
Can we have some [salt] | a∙pi∙tȧ [lu∙nu] pod∙dak gḗ∙nȧ∙va∙dhȧ?14 | |
Does this have [salt] in it? | mḗ∙ké [lu∙nu] thi∙yé∙nȧ∙va∙dhȧ?15 |
My Random Notes:
12 ‘ha∙dhan∙nȧ’ = “make” (as a command/instruction)
13 ‘gaa∙nȧ’ = In this context, “level”; gaa∙nȧ∙tȧ = “to the level”; pi∙tȧ∙ra∙tȧ = “abroad”; ‘pi∙tȧ∙ra∙tȧ kat∙ti∙yȧ’ = “people from abroad” (a way of saying “foreigners” when speaking casually); ‘pi∙tȧ∙ra∙tȧ kat∙ti∙yé’ = “of foreigners”
14 Literally, “Would you bring us a little salt”
15 ‘mḗ∙kȧ’ = “it/that” (see my post “21 Sinhala Phrases”); ‘mḗ∙ké’ = “in it/that”
BONUS: When Eating At A Friend’s House
What is in it? | mḗ∙ké thi∙yén∙né mo∙kak∙dhȧ? | |
Shall I taste it first? | ma∙mȧ is∙sél∙la ra∙ha ba∙lan∙nȧ∙dhȧ?16 | |
Is the food spicy? | kǣ∙mȧ sæ∙rȧ∙dhȧ? | |
The food is spicy | kǣ∙mȧ sæ∙rayi | |
The food is not spicy | kǣ∙mȧ sæ∙rȧ nǣ |
My Random Notes:
16 ‘ra∙ha’ = “taste” (noun); ‘ba∙lan∙nȧ’ = “to look”; so in effect, the Sinhala word for “to taste” is “to look at the taste”
That all folks!
Leave all your questions (as well as any additional phrases you thought of) in the comments below.
Also, don’t forget to check out my “Top 3 Sellers” in my online store.
Does this contain garlic / onions / eggs / mushrooms?
Which oil is used in this?
(by the way, Dilshan, I would suggest you give us a list of oils used in cooking)
Is this dish low / medium / high spice?
Excellent, thanks for idea Uma. You know what’s inadvertently happening, right? I think I’m slowly gathering enough material to launch a completely new post on “Cooking in Sinhala”.
Keep ’em coming while I get to work on the phrases you just gave.
Hi Dilshan!
Thanks for yor post, which always are very fun to read.
A blog about cooking would be really nice and helpful. I remember being at a friends house in Sri Lanka and i wanted to help preparing the dinner. I could have used your spice blog although i already knew some of them.
But i don’t know anything about the “cooking-process-phrases”.
Would be really helpful if I ever come to be invited again.
Also I’m neither vegetarian nor vegan but I don’t like fish. And one day I found out that luunumiris is sometimes made with fish. Are there any other dishes where it is not obvious that fish or fishoil is used?
Thanks a lot for your effort to make learning sinhala so much fun.
Thanks Michi, this cooking post is more and more looking like a good idea.
Oh yeah, a lot of the “condiments” like lunumiris and most of the sambols (pol, seeni, …) sometimes have what is called “Maldive fish” (dried tuna) which in Sinhala is called ‘umba∙lȧ∙kȧ∙dȧ’. I personally love it, but every time my wife (who is vegetarian) and I dine outside, we have to be watchful of this.
According to my mom, most people don’t add this now since Maldive Fish is expensive. Still, better to check first. I’ll add that to my list.
Wow.. great idea for a lip-smacking post!
Dishan, you must include a whole list (I am sure it would be as long as Hanuman Ji’s tail!) of cooking verbs and phrases. I have prepared them for my Japanese book – would be only too happy to share with you (so that I get the Sinhala equivalents readymade!)
You can also add a list of utensils used in traditional cooking.
Thanks Uma, great ideas. I shall be in touch soon.
A….MA….ZING!! Thank you so much these are great!!! I concur that the post on cooking terms would be oh so helpful! Brilliant work as always! Thanks especially for the sri lankan spicy not foreigner spicy phrase…maybe if i say it in sinhala instead of english they will believe me!
Haha, good luck Clarissa. Let me know if you finally make yourself understood.
It’s funny that the word for turmeric means yellow. It’s a suitably Sri Lankan version of the english orange fruit/colour.
“Orange (color)” = ‘thæmbi∙li’ which actually is also the word for “King coconut”.
I noticed that the word for “how much” is koch∙chȧ∙rak∙dhȧ. Is this specifically a cooking word? Normally the word for how much is kiiyada
You raise a very good point, Hugh.
Yes, ‘kee∙yȧ∙dhȧ?’ is “how much?” in the general sense.
‘kee∙yak∙dhȧ?’ is used when trying to specify a quantity of items that can be counted (i.e. “count nouns”). Examples: bottles, books, pens, etc.
Sample phrase: “How many bottles do you want?” = ‘o∙yaa∙tȧ bō∙thal kee∙yak∙dhȧ ō∙né?’
‘koch∙chȧ∙rak∙dhȧ?’ is used when trying to specify a quantity of items that cannot be counted (i.e. “mass nouns”). Examples: water, salt, pepper, etc. Most spices would fall into this.
Sample phrase: How much salt do you want? = ‘o∙yaa∙tȧ lu∙nu koch∙chȧ∙rak∙dhȧ ō∙né?’
Makes sense? (tell me if it doesn’t. Our little exchange could actually turn into a mini grammar post).
Hi Dilshan, Its amazing and very interesting to learn and know more about the sri lankan food and culture. keep it up the great job.
Thanks
Thanks Ali
Hi dilshan!
How do you call the cutlery in sinhala? Spoon, fork, knife…
Good question, John.
spoon = hæn∙dhȧ
knife = pi∙hi∙yȧ
fork = gǣ∙ræp∙pu∙wȧ
I may even work on this and make it into a short blog post. Thanks for sparking the idea.
Hey Dilshan!
Another great post, with plenty to learn (and plenty to corroborate what I thought I already knew ;) )
It’s funny though, when I saw “ma∙mȧ is∙sél∙la ra∙ha ba∙lan∙nȧ∙dhȧ?” – my first thought was, ‘oooh that’s probably why my husband’s family always ask me to “taste and see”!’ It all makes sense now… like when they ask me to bring something and come (a∙ran én∙nȧ)! All those little phrases sound so much more natural when I understand where they came from!
Thanks again,
Michelle
Haha, interesting point re. “taste and see”…
Actually, that may have more to do with the fact that “balanna” can also be used for “check/verify”.
For example, ‘kȧ∙rȧ∙la ba∙lan∙nȧ’ literally means “do & see”, which actually is meant to convey “do this particular thing and check to see results”. If for example, the car won’t start and a helpful Sri Lankan bystander messes about with the engine, he will say ‘dhæn start kȧ∙rȧ∙la ba∙lan∙nȧ’ (lit. “start it now and see”) which actually means “start now and check (if it works)”.
Get what I mean?
Oh dear, you’ve foiled my brilliant discovery! Although that does also make sense, so hopefully it should stick in my brain!
Thanks for clarifying!
Michelle
Hi Dilshan,
Aayubowan….
Can u help me to find out a way to make domestic help (maid) understand basic stuffs like…what time she/he will come…what work i need to get done…how much do they charge …etc etc etc…although list is big but main tough task is to call them over phone ask them to come …lol
Hope u can help…
Regards