සුබ නත්තලක්
suba nattalak
The English phrase "merry Christmas" is translated into Sinhala as සුබ නත්තලක් (suba nattalak).
You use සුබ නත්තලක් to express good wishes during the Christmas season. You may also use the phrase නත්තල් සුබ පැතුම් to mean "Christmas greetings".
Meaning: good wishes at Christmas time (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase සුබ නත්තලක් is composed of suba (auspicious or good), nattala (Christmas) and the suffix -k which functions as an indefinite particle to make the phrase mean "a Christmas".
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase ends with the -k sound, which is the indefinite particle. This makes the literal translation "a happy Christmas".
How do you pronounce it?
suba nattalak
Did you know?
- Because the majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, using the phrase සුබ නත්තලක් is frequently seen as a symbolic gesture of inclusivity and inter-religious friendship.
- In Sri Lanka, Christmas greetings are often accompanied by the custom of sharing 'Christmas cake' and 'coconut cake', which have become local staples of the holiday.
- The word සුබ is a cognate of the word 'subha' in Dhivehi, the language spoken in the Maldives.
Examples in context
- ඔබට සුබ නත්තලක් වේවා!obata suba nattalak veva!May you have a merry Christmas!
- සියලු දෙනාටම සුබ නත්තලක්!siyalu denatama suba nattalak!Merry Christmas to everyone!
- සුබ නත්තලක් වේවා!suba nattalak veva!Have a merry Christmas!
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a holiday party.
- ඉෂානි Ishaniරොෂාන්, ඔබට සුබ නත්තලක්!Roshan, obata suba nattalak!Roshan, Merry Christmas to you!
- රොෂාන් Roshanස්තූතියි ඉෂානි, ඔබටත් සුබ නත්තලක්!Sthuthiy iishani, obatath suba nattalak!Thank you Ishani, Merry Christmas to you too!
- ඉෂානි Ishaniඔබේ පවුලේ අයටත් සුබ නත්තලක් කියන්න.Obe pawule ayatath suba nattalak kiyanna.Tell your family members Merry Christmas too.
- රොෂාන් Roshanඅනිවාර්යයෙන්ම, මම පවසන්නම්.Anivaryenma, mama pawasannam.Definitely, I will tell them.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries සුබ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
