බිරිඳ
biriⁿda[biriⁿdə]
The Sinhala word for wife is බිරිඳ (biriⁿda). Wiktionary also lists භාර්යාව (bhāryāwa) and පවුල (pawula).
Meaning: female partner in a marriage (noun)
Ways to say it
| Sinhala | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| බිරිඳ | biriⁿda | [biriⁿdə] (narrow) |
| භාර්යාව | bhāryāwa | |
| පවුල | pawula |
The term is used to refer to a female partner in a marriage.
Which one should you use?
බිරිඳ is the standard, neutral term for wife used in everyday conversation and writing. In contrast, භාර්යාව is a more formal option.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
බිරිඳ is a neutral term suitable for everyday use. භාර්යාව is a more formal and respectful term, often found in official documents, news reports or formal speeches.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Colombo dialect, it is common to hear people use the English word 'wife' pronounced with a Sinhala accent.
How do you pronounce it?
biriⁿda
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use පවුල to refer to a wife, as this word means 'family'.
Did you know?
- In casual conversation, many husbands avoid using the word බිරිඳ and instead refer to their wife as ගෙදර කෙනා, which literally means 'the person of the house'.
- While බිරිඳ is the standard term, in many rural or older communities, people might use familial terms like 'sister' or 'mother' to refer to a wife when speaking to others, to avoid direct naming.
- The formal term භාර්යාව is a Sanskrit-derived word, which is a common way to elevate the register of Sinhala to sound more academic or official.
Examples in context
- ඇය මගේ බිරිඳයි.æya magē birindayi.She is my wife.
- ඔහුගේ බිරිඳ ඉතා කරුණාවන්තයි.ohugē birinda itā karuṇāvantayi.His wife is very kind.
Example conversation
Nupun is introducing Kavindya to a friend.
- නුපුන් Nupunමේ කවින්ද්යා, මගේ බිරිඳ.Me Kavindya, mage birinda.This is Kavindya, my wife.
- කවින්ද්යා Kavindyaඔයාල දෙන්නම ගොඩක් ලස්සනයි.Oyala dennama godak lassanayi.You both are very beautiful.
- නුපුන් Nupunස්තූතියි කවින්ද්යා.Sthuthiyi Kavindya.Thank you, Kavindya.
- කවින්ද්යා Kavindyaඔයාටත් ස්තූතියි නුපුන්.Oyatath sthuthiyi Nupun.Thank you too, Nupun.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “wife” translations and entries බිරිඳ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
