| bilabial | labio-velar | dental | alveolar | postalveolar | retroflex | palatal | velar | glottal | |
| stop | pʰ, b | t̪ʰ, d̪ | ʈʰ, ɖ | kʰ, g | |||||
| tap | ɾ | ||||||||
| fricative | s | ʃ | h | ||||||
| affricate | tʃ, dʒ | ||||||||
| nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||||
| approximant | w | j | |||||||
| lateral approximant | l |
| bilabial | dental | retroflex | velar | |
| stop | ⁿb | ⁿd̪ | ⁿɖ | ⁿg |
| front | central | back | |
| close | i | u̜ | |
| close-mid | e | o̜ | |
| mid | ə | ||
| near-open | æ | ||
| open | a |
| front | central | back | |
| close | iː | u̜ː | |
| close-mid | eː | o̜ː | |
| near-open | æː | ||
| open | aː |
{N,Q}
(C)V(C)
Source: Chandralal, Dileep. 2010. Sinhala. Amsterdam ; Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Comments: Q = obstruent. /f/ and /əː/ are found only in English loans; /ʃ/, with one exception, also appears in loans, mostly from Sanskrit. /p/ is often substituted for /f/; /s/ is sometimes substituted for /ʃ/. An indication is given that geminated intervocalic consonants may be phonemic, but no supporting evidence is provided. Prenasalised stops are distinctive intervocalically: taⁿbə ‘copper’ vs. tambə ‘boil’. Initial clusters are found in borrowed words, but they tend to be broken up or prothesised. “However, the nasal plus stop (voiced or voiceless) clusters do not appear simplified” (p. 34). “Although some provincial dialects have distinctive tone patterns, the functional load of the overall accent is insignificant” (p. 37).
Contributed by: Dmitry Nikolaev (dnikolaev@fastmail.com)