Saturday, March 20, 2010

Use of Kaaraya (කාරයා)/Sinhala Slang 02

Sinhala language has an all purpose suffix Kaaraya (කාරයා) which when suffixed to a regular noun (which denotes a demographic group, etc), creates an informal and disrespectful reference to a person of that demographic group. Most native speakers of Sinhala liberally use this suffix when they chat informally. However they also make great effort to avoid Kaaraya when they speak in a formal venue.
e.g.
polis-kaaraya (පොලිස්කාරයා) – policeman
thæpel-kaaraya (තැපැල්කාරයා) – postman
mura-kaaraya (මුරකාරයා) - watchman
bora-kaaraya (බෝරාකාරයා) - a Bora Muslim person
American-kaaraya (ඇමෙරිකන්කාරයා) - an American