Consonants
The phonetic symbols for English consonants, with the closest Sinhala letter for each.
Dictionary එකක වචනයක් කියන හැටි / / ඇතුළේ ලියලා තියෙනවා. එක symbol එකක් කියන්නේ එක sound එකක්. ඉංග්රීසි consonants ගොඩක් සිංහල අකුරුවලට සමානයි. වෙනස් ටික විතරක් හොඳට ඉගෙන ගන්න.
When I learnt English, nobody showed me these symbols, and I guessed how to say every new word from its spelling. English spelling is not a good guide: phone starts with /f/, knife has no /k/, and chef starts with /ʃ/. Once you can read these symbols, any dictionary (or the pronunciation in Google) tells you exactly how to say a word.
Below I have split the consonants into three groups. Start with the second group: those are the sounds Sri Lankans find hard.
Sounds you already know
These sound the same as a Sinhala letter. Nothing new to learn, only the symbol.
| Symbol | Sinhala | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | ප | pen |
| b | බ | book |
| t | ට | town |
| d | ඩ | day |
| k | ක | cat, kottu |
| g | ග | give |
| f | ෆ | fish, phone |
| s | ස | say |
| ʃ | ශ | she, chef |
| tʃ | ච | cheese |
| dʒ | ජ | jump, age |
| m | ම | moon |
| n | න | name |
| ŋ | ං | sing |
| l | ල | look |
| j | ය | yes |
| h | හ | hand |
Careful with /j/: in these symbols, /j/ is the y in yes, not the j in jump. The j in jump is /dʒ/.
Sounds to practise
These are the ones I spend the most time on in class. Each has a Sinhala letter that is close, but not the same.
| Symbol | Closest Sinhala | Example | How to make it |
|---|---|---|---|
| θ | ත | think | Tongue between your teeth. Blow, no voice. |
| ð | ද | this | Tongue between your teeth, and your throat hums. |
| v | ව | very | Top teeth on your lower lip, and hum. |
| w | (උ)ව | we | Round your lips like ඌ, no teeth. |
| z | ස, buzzing | zoo, is | Say ස and let it buzz like a bee. |
| ʒ | ශ, buzzing | vision, pleasure | Say ශ and let it buzz. |
| r | ර, softer | run | Tongue curls back and touches nothing. No tap. |
Pairs to hear the difference
- thin /θɪn/ · tin /tɪn//θ/ or /t/
- wine /waɪn/ · vine /vaɪn//w/ or /v/
- ice /aɪs/ · eyes /aɪz//s/ or /z/
- they /ðeɪ/ · day /deɪ//ð/ or /d/
Sounds you will rarely need
You may see these in a dictionary, but you can live a happy life without them.
| Symbol | Closest Sinhala | Example | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|---|
| t̬ | a quick ඩ, almost ර | cutting, water | American English only. British English keeps a clear /t/. |
| x | ක, breathy | loch | Scottish words, and some names from other languages. |
| ɒ̃ | ං | croissant | French words used in English. |
Next, the vowels and diphthongs. They are where Sinhala and English differ the most.
Quick check
Tap an answer. Nothing is saved.
Which symbol is the first sound in jump?
How does phone start?
Which symbol is the th in this?
What is the last sound in eyes?
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