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/, 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).
- Initiak /s/ preceeding a consonant usually forms an additional syllable (e.g school > iskōlaya).
Read more about this topic: Dutch Loanwords In Sinhala
Famous quotes containing the words borrowing and/or process:
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The practice of S/M is the creation of pleasure.... And that’s why S/M is really a subculture. It’s a process of invention. S/M is the use of a strategic relationship as a source of pleasure.”
—Michel Foucault (1926–1984)