තාත්තා
tāttā/t̪aːt̪t̪aː/
The Sinhala word for dad is තාත්තා (tāttā).
The term is used to refer to a father in a household or everyday setting.
Meaning: informal: a father (noun)
Which one should you use?
තාත්තා is the common term used in everyday conversation, whereas පියා is a more formal version.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
තාත්තා is the standard, informal way to say dad or father in a household setting. In contrast, පියා is the formal, literary term used in official documents or formal speech.
How do you pronounce it?
tāttā
Did you know?
- The word තාත්තා is borrowed from the Tamil word தாத்தா, showing the deep historical influence of Tamil on the Sinhala language.
- If you hear someone refer to an elderly man as තාත්තා in a public setting, they might not be talking about their biological father, but using it as a respectful honorific for an older male.
- Sinhala has a wide variety of kinship terms that change based on whether the relative is from the father's side or the mother's side.
Examples in context
- තාත්තා ගෙදර ආවා.thātthā gedara āvā.Dad came home.
- මගේ තාත්තා හරිම කරුණාවන්තයි.magē thātthā harima karunāvanthayi.My dad is very kind.
- තාත්තා දැන් වැඩ කරනවා.thātthā dän veda karanavā.Dad is working now.
Example conversation
Sanduni and Roshan are talking about their weekend plans.
- සඳුනි Sanduniරොෂාන්, ඔයාගේ තාත්තා එනවාද?Roshan, oyāgē tāttā enavāda?Roshan, is your dad coming?
- රොෂාන් Roshanඔව්, තාත්තා අද එනවා.ov, tāttā ada enavā.Yes, dad is coming today.
- සඳුනි Sanduniඒක ගොඩක් හොඳයි.ēka goḍak hoňdai.That is very good.
- රොෂාන් Roshanඔව්, අපි හැමෝම සතුටුයි.ov, api hæmōma satutu-i.Yes, we are all happy.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry තාත්තා, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries තාත්තා, CC BY-SA 4.0.
