අ, n. The first letter of the Alphabet. It varies bightly in pronunciation, depending sometimes on the meaning or derivation and sometimes on the consonants with which it is combined. It is (1) the clear, distinct sound obtained by shortening ආ ah; (2) the sound of a in negative or miracle. In initial syllables the sound is generally the first of these; the second arises from the dropping of the voice in the unaccented syllables. It is written only when it is the initial letter of a word, but is pronounced after every consonant to which no other vowel is attached, or where it is not suppressed by the sign ්, as කරනවා, karanavā, the final vowel අ, which is long, alone being written;කරන් karan, the vowel අ after න being suppressed by the sign ්.

අල්, a. consonantal, viz. having the vowel suppressed, leaving only the consonant.

අල්අකුර, n. vowelless consonant, as ක් in මක්.

ආ, n. The second vowel of the alphabet, sounded like a in 'calm' or 'charm' its non-initial form is (ා) following the consonant it vocalizes, as කා Kā.

ඇ, n. The third vowel of the alphabet, though in some grammars and vocabularies this and the next are placed last of all. Its sound is a modification of අ, and like the sound of a in fat, bat, mat. Its non-initial form is (ැ) following the consonant it vocalizes, as කැබ්, cab.

ඇළ පිල්ල, n. gram. side piece, viz. the vowel sign (ා) at the side a consonant, as කා, being the non-initial for ආ, ā.

ඈ, n. The fourth vowel of the alphabet, the lengthened sound of ඇ. Its non-initial form is (ැ) following the consonant it vocalizes, as මෑ Mã.

ඉ, n. The fifth vowel of the alphabet; the third in Sanskrit, which has not the two preceding. Its sound is the fine sharp sound of i in pin; its non-initial form is (ි), called ඉස්පිල්ල head or top piece, placed above the consonant it vocalizes: as කි,මි පින්, ki, mi, pin.

ඉනංගු, a. appropriate, compatible, proportionate, consonant, congruous.

ඉස් පිල්ල, n. lit. head-piece: the vowel sign (ි) placed over a consonant, as කී, being the non-initial sign for ඉ.

ඊ, n. The sixth vowel of the alphabet. Its sound is the previous vowel lengthened, and is the same as ee in Peel or Feel. Its non-initial form is ී placed above the consonant it vocalizes, as කී, මී, kí, mí.

උ, n. The seventh vowel of the alphabet. Its sound is that of oo in Foot. Its non-initial forms /?/ and ු called පාපිල්ල—lower or foot piece—are placed below the consonant they vocalize, as කු, මු, koo, moo.

ඌ, n. The eighth vowel of the alphabet. Its sound is that of oo in Food. Its non-initial forms (, ූ) are attached to the lower part of the consonant they vocalize, as කූ kōō, මූ mōō.

ඍ, n. The ninth letter of the alphabet: a vowel-consonant the sound of which in Sanscrit = ri, but in Sinhalese it varies from ri to ru, and is sometimes ir.

එ, n. The eleventh letter of the alphabet: a pure short vowel having the sound of e as heard in met. Its non-initial form (‍ෙ) is written before the consonant it vocalizes, as ‍දෙන් den, මෙන් men.