Sri Lankan English

This page contains updates to the dictionary beginning with the letter A. It is divided into 2 parts: New Entries, and Comments and Corrections. Click here to return to the main updates page, or on the links on the left side of the page to go to another letter.

These pages are updated regularly; please contact me if you have any suggestions or feedback which can be included.

Latest update: July 2010. New additions are in red.

NEW ENTRIES:

accident ward: accident and emergency department
“Uncle! Come soon to the accident ward, it’s Shan!” (Can You Hear me Running, by Lal Medawattegedara, page 64)
Fellow workers gathered and rushed Andy in a three wheeler to the accident ward of the General Hospital. (Rainbows in Braille, by Elmo Jayawardena, page 16)

adhi poya: an extra poya day added when 2 full moon days fall in the same month (Sinhala)
See also: A is for Adhi Vesak:
http://www.groundviews.org/2010/05/16/a-is-for-adhi-vesak/

Ahikuntika: a member of a gypsy community of South Indian origin, traditionally engaged in palm-reading and snake-charming
The settlement of Ahikuntikas in Vakarai would commence next year. (newspaper article)

airlift: (v) fly, transport by plane
The Foreign Employment Bureau promised to airlift the body to Sri Lanka soon. (Daily Mirror 26/06/08)
> In BSE, ‘airlift’ is used (mainly as a noun, but also as a verb) to refer to transporting a large quantity of supplies, soldiers, etc, for example in an emergency.

amuredi: plain white cotton cloth (Sinhala)
Even the curtains ... are of thick white amuredi that reluctantly let in the persistent and harsh midday sunlight. (Fifteen, by Ameena Hussein, page 34)

annexed: attached (not used as a verb with this meaning in BSE)
Please find annexed a copy of the deed.

arahat: (in Buddhism) a person who has attained nibbana (Sanskrit)
The Theravada Buddhist such as himself could only aim to become an arahat. (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 45)

auspicious time (= nekatha): the precise time at which something should be done according to astrology, e.g. the start of a wedding ceremony, the lighting of the hearth at New Year, starting to build a new house, etc.
He had already announced the auspicious time for the commencement of the project. (Can You Hear me Running, by Lal Medawattegedara, page 49)
The traditional coconut oil lamp was lit at the auspicious time, … (Rainbows in Braille, by Elmo Jayawardena, page 79)
Moira’s astrologer had advised that the auspicious time for the wedding ceremony was at one-fifteen in the afternoon, … (The Sweet and Simple Kind, by Yasmine Gooneratne, page 193)
Not that there was an auspicious time coming up, so to speak, to meet the parents. (Stable Horses, by Vihanga Perera, page 98)
“I need to find an auspicious time for my sister’s wedding and I have heard that there is a good astrologer in this village.” (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 21)

COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS:

adopt out: The example given (“She has decided to adopt out the baby”) is considered incorrect or non-standard by several SLE speakers. Perhaps it is more likely to be used in the passive (“The baby was adopted out almost immediately”)?

almirah: (Anglo-Indian, from Portuguese, not Urdu)

Click here to return to the main updates page, or on the links on the left side of the page to go to another letter.