ඊර්ෂ්යා
irshya
The Sinhala word for jealous is ඊර්ෂ්යා (irshya).
ඊර්ෂ්යා is an adjective used to describe feeling envious or resentful of someone else due to a perceived advantage, material possession or achievement.
Meaning: envious, feeling resentful of someone for a perceived advantage, material or otherwise (adj)
How do you pronounce it?
irshya
Did you know?
- The concept of 'envy' in Sinhala culture is sometimes linked to the idea of 'the evil eye', where jealousy is thought to cause actual physical bad luck.
- Sinhala distinguishes between ඊර්ෂ්යා (envy of what another has) and the feeling of protective jealousy in a relationship, which is often described using terms related to 'possessiveness'.
- When expressing that someone is acting out of jealousy in a social setting, speakers might use the verb ඊර්ෂ්යා කරනවා (irshya karanava), literally translating to 'doing jealousy'.
Examples in context
- ඔහු ඇය ගැන ඊර්ෂ්යා කරයි.ohu aya gana irshyā karayi.He is jealous of her.
- මම ඔහුගේ සාර්ථකත්වයට ඊර්ෂ්යා කරන්නේ නැහැ.mama ohu gē sārthakathvayata irshyā karannē næhæ.I am not jealous of his success.
- ඇය ඇගේ මිතුරියට ඊර්ෂ්යා කරනවා.æya ægē mithuriyata irshyā karanavā.She is jealous of her friend.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a colleague's promotion.
- රොෂාන් Roshanසඳුනි, ඔයාට රොෂාන්ගේ උසස්වීම ගැන ඊර්ෂ්යා ද?Sanduni, oyata Roshan-ge usasveema gana irshya da?Sanduni, are you jealous of Roshan's promotion?
- සඳුනි Sanduniනැහැ, මම ඔහු වෙනුවෙන් සතුටු වෙනවා.naha, mama ohu wenuwen sathutu wenawa.No, I am happy for him.
- රොෂාන් Roshanනමුත් අනිත් අය ගොඩක් ඊර්ෂ්යා කරනවා.namuth anith aya godak irshya karanawa.But the others are very jealous.
- සඳුනි Sanduniඒක ඔවුන්ගේ ප්රශ්නයක්.eka owunge prashnayak.That is their problem.
