# List of Sinhala words of Dutch origin

This is a list of Sinhala words of Dutch origin.
Note: For information on the transcription used, see National Library at Calcutta romanization. An exception from the standard is the romanization of Sinhala long "ä" ([æː]) as "ää".
Sinhala words of Dutch origin came about during the period of Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka between 1658 and 1798. This period saw absorption of several Dutch words into the local language brought about by the interaction between Dutch colonials and the Sinhalese people, mainly in the coastal areas of the island. The Dutch replaced the Portuguese as the catalyst of change with regards to the social and cultural life of the people. A wide variety of words were adopted from administrative terms to military terms, which reveals several points of contact between the two groups.

## Types of loanwords
### Borrowings

The words pertaining to the fields of daily life, administration, food and military are the most numerous; this is to be expected because of many new innovations and goods that reached Sri Lanka via the Dutch.

## 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/, [ə], 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).
* Initial /s/ preceding a consonant usually forms an additional syllable (e.g. school > iskōlaya).

## Nouns and Adjectives

| Sinhala | සිංහල | Meaning | Dutch | Meaning | Type |
| administrāsiya | අද්මිනිස්ත්‍රාසිය | Administration | Administratie | Administration | Administration |
| advakāt | අද්වකාත් | Lawyer, advocate | Advocaat | Lawyer | Administration |
| agasti | අගස්ති | Agate | Agate | Agate | Daily |
| amanda, amandäl | අමන්ද, අමන්දැල් | Almond | Amandel | Almond | Food |
| ambila | අම්බිල | Anvil | Aambeeld | Anvil | Daily |
| artāpal | අර්තාපල් | Potato | Aardappel | Potato | Food |
| äpääla | ඇපෑල | corporation | Appel | Appeal | Administration |
| āsiyā | ආසිය | Ace | Aas | Ace | Daily |
| avagāraya | අවගාරය | Auger | Avegaar | Auger | Construction |
| bācciya | බාච්චිය | Jacket | Baadje | Jacket | Clothing |
| bakkiya | බක්කිය | small trough or box | Bakje | Small trough or box | Construction |
| balansa | බලන්ස | balance | Balans | Balance | Daily |
| bāliya | බාලිය | Tub | Balie | Tub | Daily |
| balkona | බල්කොන | balcony | Balkon | Balcony | Construction |
| bālkaya | බාල්කය | Beam/Rafter | Balk | Beam | Construction |
| banketa | බාන්සිය | Banquette | Banket | Banquette | Construction |
| bānsiya | බාන්සිය | Berth | Baantje | Berth | Construction |
| bās | බාස් | Mason | Baas | Boss, leader | Construction |
| bavusa | බවුස | Tube | Buis | Tube | Daily |
| belek | බෙලෙක් | Tin | Blikje | Tin | Daily |
| beliyata | බෙලියත | Placard, Notice of Sale | Bericht | Notice | Daily |
| bōkkuva | බෝක්කුව | Arch | Boog | Arch | Daily |
| bōnci | බෝංචි | Bean(s) | Boontje | Bean | Food |
| bōrdaya | බෝර්දය | Border | Boord | Edge, Border | Daily |
| būdalaya | බූදලය | Estate/Property | Boerderij | Estate | Administration |
| būndala | බූන්දල | Bundle | Bundel | Bundle | Daily |
| būruvā | බුරුවා | Jack/Knave | Boer | Farmer | Daily |
| dān | දාං | Draughts | Dammen | Draughts | Daily |
| dāsiya | දාසිය | Tie | Das | Tie | Clothing |
| dääla | දෑල | Dale | Dal | Dale | Daily |
| dusima | දුසිම | Dozen | Dozijn | Dozen | Daily |
| hākkaya | හාක්කය | Hook | Haak | Hook | Daily |
| hārnāla | හාර්නාල | Hairpin | Haarnaald | Hairpin | Daily |
| hārata | හාරත | Hearts | Harten | Hearts | Daily |
| hēra | හේරා | King | Heer | Mister, Sir | Daily |
| hundā | හුන්දා | Hound | Hond | Dog | Daily |
| jasa, jäsa | ජස, ජැස | Jacket | Jas | Jacket | Clothing |
| isnibonchi | | Green beans | Snijboontjes | Green bean | food |
| istirikkaya | ඉස්තිරික්කය | Iron | Strijkijzer | Iron | Daily |
| iskōppa | ඉස්කෝප්ප | Spades | Schoppen | Spades | Daily |
| istālaya | ඉස්තාලය | Stall, Stable | Stal | Stall | Construction |
| istōppuva | ඉස්තෝප්පුව | Veranda | Stoep | Side Walk | Construction |
| kakkussiya | කක්කුස්සිය | Toilet | Kakhuisje | kak "feces" + huisje "small house" | Daily |
| kalābara | කලාබර | Clubs | Klaveren | Clubs | Daily |
| kāmaraya | කාමරය | Room | Kamer | Room | Construction |
| kanāla | කනාල | Canal | Kanaal | Canal | Construction |
| kantōruva | කන්තෝරුව | Office | Kantoor | Office | Administration |
| kaḷukumā | කලුකුමා | Turkey | Kalkoen | Turkey | Food |
| kanoma | කනොම | Cannon | Kanon | Cannon | Military |
| kapōti | කපෝති | Broken, exhausted | Kapot | Broken, exhausted | Daily |
| karāmaya | කරාමය | Tap | Kraan | Tap | Daily |
| kāsiya | කාසිය | Coin | kwartje | Quarter | Daily |
| kastan | කස්තන් | Chestnut | kastanje | Chestnut | Daily |
| kompäniya | කොම්පැනිය | Company | Compagnie | Company | Administration |
| kārtuva | කාර්තුව | Card | kaartje | Card | Daily |
| kärakōppuva | කැරකෝප්පුව | Cemetery | Kerkhof | Cemetery | Daily |
| kētalaya | කේතලය | Kettle | Ketel | Kettle | Food |
| klavīra | ක්ලාවිර | Piano | Klavier | | Daily |
| klääsiya | ක්ලාසිය | Class | Klasse | Class | Daily |
| kokis | කොකිස් | Type of fried traditional food | Koekjes | Biscuit | Food |
| kondēsiya | කොන්දේසිය | Condition | Conditie | Condition | Daily |
| kōkiyā | කෝකියා | Cook | Kokin | Cook | Daily |
| kōpi | කෝපි | Coffee | Koffie | Coffee | Daily |
| kōppaya | කෝප්පය | Cup | Kop | Cup | Daily |
| koroma | කොරොම | Crown | Kroon | Crown | Daily |
| kuluna | | Column | Colonne | Column | Daily |
| kuyitansiya | කුයිතන්සිය | Receipt | Kwitantie | Receipt | Administration |
| lanta | ලන්ත | Land | Land | Land, Country | Administration |
| lappiya | ලප්පිය | Patch | Lapje | Lap | Clothing |
| läin | ලැයින් | Glue | Lijm | Glue | Daily |
| lavandäl, lavandel | ලවන්දෙල් | Lavender | Lavendel | Lavender | Botanical |
| lei lei | ලෙයි ලෙයි | Mixed | Allerlei | All kinds of | Daily |
| londa | ලොන්ද | Blond | Blond | Blond | Botanical |
| lūpa | ලූප | Gun Barrel | Loop | Barrel | Military |
| mīla | මීල | Meal | Meel | Meal | Daily |
| minci | මිංචි | Mint | Muntje | Mint | Food |
| nääla | නෑල | Needle | Naald | Needle | Daily |
| notāris | නොතාරිස් | Notary | Notaris | Notary | Administration |
| oralōsuva | ඔරලෝසුව | Clock | Horloge (from French) | Wrist Watch | Daily |
| panīla | පනීල | Panel | Paneel | Panel | Daily |
| pelsa | පෙල්ස | Fur | Pels | Fur | Daily |
| petora | පෙතොර | Cartride | Patroon | Cartridge | Military |
| pispontuva | පිටසැලි | Backstich | | Backstich | Daily |
| piṭasäli | පිටසැලි | Parsley | Peterselie | Parsley | Food |
| plā | ප්ලා | Custard | Vla | Custard | Food |
| poroppaya | පොරොප්පය | Cork | Prop, Kurk | Plug, Cork | Daily |
| porova | පොරොව | Queen | Vrouw | Lady | Daily |
| proklamāsiya | ප්‍රොක්ලමාසිය | Proclamation | Proclamatie | Proclamation | Administration |
| pūli | පූලි | Mace | Foelie | Mace | Food |
| pūsā | පූසා | Cat | Poes | Cat | Animal |
| puyar | පුයර් | Powder | Poeier | Powder | Daily |
| rākkaya | රාක්කය | Rack | Rek | Rack | Daily |
| rāmuva | රාමුව | Frame | Raam | Frame | Daily |
| rikat | රිකත් | Richard | Rikkert | Richard | Proper Name |
| ruhita | රිකත් | Diamonds | Ruiten | Diamonds | Daily |
| säldiri | සැල්දිරි | Celery | Selderij | Celery | Food |
| säädala | සෑදල | Saddle | Zadel | Saddle | Daily |
| selduk | සෙල්දුක් | Canvas | Zeildoek | Canvas | Daily |
| sipiri, sipiyā | සිපිරි, සිපියා | Jailer, Warden | Cipier | Jailer | Administration |
| sōppiya | සෝප්පිය | Shot | Schop | Shot | Daily |
| tarappuva | තරප්පුව | Stairs | Trap | Stairs | Construction |
| tēpōcciya | තේපෝච්චිය | Teapot | Theepot | Tea pot | Daily |
| tintal | තින්තල් | Tinder | Tintel | Tinder | Daily |
| tisāla | තිසාල | Tile | Tegel | Tile | Daily |
| testamēntuva | තෙස්තමේන්තුව | Testament | Testament | Testament | Administration |
| tōlkayā | තෝල්කයා | Interpreter | Tolk | Interpreter | Administration |
| vāpana | වාපන | Coat of Arms | Wapen | Insignia | Daily |
| vatal | වතල් | Carrot | Wortel | Carrot | food |
| vendēsiya | වෙන්දේසිය | Auction | Vendutie | Auction | Administration |
| vinkala | වින්කල | Workshop | Winkel | Shop | Daily |
| viyalti | වියල්ති | Violet | Viooltje | Violet | Daily |
| vul | වුල් | Wool | Wol | Wool | Daily |

## Verbs

| Sinhala | සිංහල | Meaning | Dutch | Meaning |
| bikel karanavā | බිකෙල් කරනවා | to Engrave | Bickelen | to Engrave |
| kēvel karanavā | කේවල කරනවා | to Haggle | kibbelen | to Haggle |
| ploit karanavā | ප්ලෝයිත් කරනවා | to Whistle | Fluiten | to Whistle |
| taksēru karanavā | තක්සේරු කරනවා | to Appraise | taxeren | to Appraise |
| tisal gahanavā | තිසල් ගහනවා | to Tile | tegelen | to Tile |
| tōlka karanavā | තෝල්ක කරනවා | to Interpret | vertolken | To Interpret |
| trānslāt karanavā | ත්‍රාන්ස්ලාත් කරනවා | to Translate | translateren | To Translate |
| vendēsi karanavā | වෙන්දේසි කරනවා | to Auction | vendutie | to Auction |