Editing Sinhala script (section)

==Vowels and diacritics==
[[Image:Sinhala-hal-kiriima.svg|thumb|130px|right|The two shapes of the ''hal kirīma'', seen here in a {{angbr|ප්}}, ''p'' (left) and a {{angbr|බ්}}, ''b'' right. The first shape is the most common one, while the second is used for letters ending at the top left corner.
]]Each vowel has two forms, an independent and a [[diacritic]] or vowel stroke ({{langx|si|පිලි|pili}}). The independent form is used when a vowel occurs at the beginning of a word. The diacritic is used when a vowel follows a consonant.

While most diacritics are regular, {{angbr| ු}}, ''u'' and {{angbr| ූ}} ''ū'' take on a different shape when attached to a {{angbr|ක}}, ''ka'', {{angbr|ග}}, ''ga'', {{angbr|ඟ}}, ''n̆ga'', {{angbr|ත}}, ''ta'', {{angbr|භ}}, ''bha'', or {{angbr|ශ}}, ''śa''. E.g.: {{angbr|කු}}, ''ku'', {{angbr|කූ}}, ''kū''.

The inherent vowel of a letter can be removed by a [[virama|hal kirīma]] (◌්), which has two shapes depending on which consonant it attaches to.

Combinations of ර(r) or  ළ(ḷ) with {{angle bracket|u}} have idiosyncratic shapes, viz රු (ru), රූ (rū), ළු (ḷu) and ළූ (ḷū).{{sfnp|Jayawardena-Moser|2004|p=11}} The diacritic used for රු (ru) and රූ (rū) is what is normally used for the {{angle bracket|æ}}, and therefore there are idiosyncratic forms for ''ræ'' and ''rǣ'', viz රැ and රෑ.

===Śuddha vowels===

There are six long and six short ''śuddha'' vowels.

{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+ ''Śuddha'' short vowels, ''hal kirīma'', and {{br}}examples with {{angbr|ක}}, ''ka'' and {{angbr|බ}}, ''ba''.
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=අ|ch2=◌|iso=a|ipa=[a], [ə]|note={{noteTag|name=inherent|group=shortVowels|Since every unmarked consonant carries an inherent ''a'' vowel, there is no need for a diacritic form of {{angbr|අ}}}}.}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඇ|ch2=ැ |iso=æ|ipa=[æ]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඉ| ch2=  ි |iso= i |ipa=[i]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=උ|ch2= ු|iso= u|ipa=[u]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=එ|ch2= ෙ|iso=e|ipa=[e]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඔ| ch2= ො |iso=o|ipa=[o]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch2=◌්|iso=&nbsp;|note=''hal kirīma''{{br}}{{noteTag|name=virama|group=shortVowels|The 'hal kirīma'' has no independent form as it is always attached to a consonant.}}}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක|iso=ka|ipa=[ka], [kə]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කැ|iso=kæ|ipa=[kæ]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කි|iso=ki|ipa=[ki]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කු|iso= ku|ipa=[ku]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෙ|iso=ke|ipa=[ke]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කො|iso=ko|ipa=[ko]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=ක්|iso=k|ipa=[k]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බ|iso=ba|ipa=[ba], [bə]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බැ|iso=bæ|ipa=[bæ]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බි|iso=bi|ipa=[bi]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බු|iso=bu|ipa=[bu]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බෙ|iso=be|ipa=[be]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බො|iso=bo|ipa=[bo]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බ්|iso=b|ipa=[b]}}
|}
{{noteFoot|group=shortVowels}}
{| class="wikitable letters-black"
|+ ''Śuddha'' long vowels and {{br}}examples with {{angbr|ක}}, ''ka'' and {{angbr|බ}}, ''ba''.
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ආ|ch2= ා|iso=ā |ipa=[aː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඈ|ch2=ෑ |iso=ǣ|ipa=[æː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඊ|ch2= ී|iso= ī |ipa=[iː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඌ|ch2= ූ |iso= ū |ipa=[uː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඒ| ch2=ේ |iso= ē |ipa=[eː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඕ| ch2= ෝ |iso= ō |ipa=[oː]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කා|iso=kā |ipa=[kaː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෑ|iso=kǣ|ipa=[kæː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කී|iso=kī |ipa=[kiː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කූ|iso=kū |ipa=[kuː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කේ |iso=kē |ipa=[keː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෝ|iso=kō |ipa=[koː]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බා|iso=bā|ipa=[baː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බෑ|iso=bǣ|ipa=[bæː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බී|iso=bī|ipa=[biː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බූ|iso=bū|ipa=[buː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බේ|iso=bē|ipa=[beː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=බෝ|iso=bō|ipa=[boː]}}
|}

===Miśra vowels and vocalics===
There are six additional vowel and syllabic consonants in the ''miśra'' alphabet. The two [[diphthong]]s are quite common, while the vocalic ṛ is much rarer, and ḷ is all but obsolete. The latter two are almost exclusively found in loanwords from Sanskrit.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=8}}

The ''miśra'' {{angle bracket|ṛ}} can also be written with ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|r}}+{{angle bracket|u}} or {{angle bracket|u}}+{{angle bracket|r}}, which corresponds to the actual [[pronunciation]]. The ''miśra'' syllabic ḷ can be replaced by ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|l}}+{{angle bracket|i}}.{{sfnp|Matzel|1983|p=14}} Miśra {{angle bracket|au}} is rendered as  ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|awu}}, ''miśra'' {{angle bracket|ai}}  as ''śuddha'' {{angle bracket|ayi}}.

{| class="wikitable letters-pink"
|-
|+Miśra vowels and vocalics, and examples with {{angbr|ක}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඍ|ch2=ෘ|iso=r̥|ipa=[ru]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඎ|ch2=ෲ|iso=r̥̄|ipa=[ruː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඓ|ch2=ෛ|iso=ai|ipa=[aj]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඖ|ch2=ෞ|iso=au|ipa=[au]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඏ|ch2=ෟ|iso=l̥|ipa=[li]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch1=ඐ|ch2=ෳ|iso=l̥̄|ipa=[liː]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෘ|iso=kru|ipa=[kru]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෲ|iso=krū|ipa=[kruː]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෛ|iso=kai|ipa=[kaj]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෞ|iso=kau|ipa=[kau]}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෟ|iso=kl̥|ipa=[kli]|note={{noteTag|name=l|group=misravowels|Mainly used in conjunction with another diacritic, {{angbr|ෙ}}}}}}
|{{letter|l=si|ch=කෳ|iso=kl̥̄|ipa=[kliː]|note={{noteTag|name=ll|group=misravowels|Not in contemporary use.}}}}
|}
{{noteFoot|group=misravowels}}

===Other diacritics===
The [[anusvara]] (often called ''binduva'' 'zero') is represented by one small circle {{angbr|◌ං}},{{sfnp|Karunatillake|2004|p=xxxii}} and the [[visarga]] (technically part of the ''miśra'' alphabet) by two {{angbr|◌ඃ}}.