Sri Lankan English - Updates N

This page contains updates to the dictionary beginning with the letter N. 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:

nadaswaran: a long flute played in Tamil festivals (Tamil)
(Click here to see a photograph)
There had been a nadhesweram kacheri in the temple for three nights and one of the virtuoso nadhesweram players had come with the other musicians all the way from Jaffna to play his instrument. (All is Burning, by Jean Arasanayagam, page 217)

nail: nail or screw

Necto: a popular sweet drink (brand name)
… eating pineapple chunks sprinkled with chilli and salt and drinking Necto that stained their lips pink. (The Moon in the Water, by Ameena Hussein, page 164)

nephew; niece: cousin’s son; cousin’s daughter

NGO sector: (less common in BSE) (> INGO)
> The abbreviation ‘NGO’ (= Non-Governmental Organization) is much less common in the UK, where such organizations are normally referred to as ‘charities’. And the word ‘sector’ (meaning a part of a country’s economy) is most commonly used in the terms ‘private sector’ and ‘public sector’. In a country like Sri Lanka, of course, the NGO sector is a much more significant part of the national economy.

nil manel: blue water lily, Sri Lankan national flower (Sinhala)
He walked up to the serene saffron-robed stone Buddha, and bowing in respect, gave an offering of nilmanel flowers. (Fifteen, by Ameena Hussein, page 71)
Red lotuses, white water lilies and bluish purple manel, … (Sam’s Story, by Elmo Jayawardena, page 131)
Damsels wearing cloth and jacket and carrying nil manel flowers enter stage … (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 150)
They made their offerings of swollen purple buds of Nil Manel. (The Moon in the Water, by Ameena Hussein, page 159)

Nittaewo: a legendary bear-like race with hairy bodies and long nails (see quote)
Did Neanderthal man survive in the plains of Lenama in the Kumana National Park till recent times? Legend, myth and folk tales, all lend a trace of belief to their mysterious presence. Nittewo was the name given to these bear like men covered in fur, that were supposed to have inhabited the Lenama Plains. ... Discussing wildlife, his grace referred to the Nittewo, as “Nitt-atto” – the people with long nails, which they used like bears, to kill and feed. (Shirley Perera, in The Nature of Sri Lanka by Luxshmanan Nadaraja, page 98)
> There is also a detailed account of the Nittaewo (“Dagger-Clawed Little People”) in Richard Boyle’s book Sindbad in Serendib (pages 143-151).

non-a/c: non-air-conditioned
Bumping our way back in the non-ac van our budget has allowed for, … (Fifteen, by Ameena Hussein, page 138)

no use of doing something (= no need of doing something): no use doing something, no need to do something
“Here Ru – you can use my cell phone men – no use of walking to the booth.” (The Mango Tree, by Anthea Senaratna, page 100)



COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS:

not to: The example given (from July page 181) is inappropriate because “not to worry” is standard BSE usage, while “not to” with other verbs is SLE.



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