ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Portuguese loanwords in Sinhala

Hey there little one! So, you know how when we learn about new things, we sometimes borrow words from other languages? Well, way back in time, the people of Sri Lanka, where Sinhala is spoken, met some people from a place called Portugal. They were friendly with each other, and started to exchange not just food and ideas, but also words!

Portuguese words are words that come from the language spoken in Portugal. Some Portuguese people came to Sri Lanka a long time ago and stayed for a while. During that time, they shared some of their words with the Sinhala people. The Sinhala people liked those words and started to use them too! These words are called Portuguese loanwords.

Some examples of Portuguese loanwords in Sinhala include "paduru" which means "shoe", "boru" which means "liar", and "mama" which means "uncle". Pretty interesting, huh? It's almost like the Sinhala language is a mixture of different languages that have come together throughout history.