Abstract:
It can be stated that "thirasaara" (තිරසාර බව) is one of
the most popular words in the so-called developed and
standardized world that is considered to be developed. This article
questions the extent to which the concept of "thiraasara" (in
English' sustainability) is defined reasonably, while this study
focuses on the main purpose and two additional objectives. The
main purpose is to present a more reasonable definition for
"thirasaara" (sustainability). Additional objectives are to
distinguish definition and interpretation and to suggest a definition
for the term 'definition'. This study used "pada nirukthi" (mo
ksrela;s or etymology of words in English) as a method.
Etymology used in this study was primarily cross validated (in
confirming its accuracy) through historical sources, Sri Lankan
Literary Criticism Language training and Sri Lankan folk
standard. Since a mother tongue is more helpful to understand an
inherent meaning of a word better, "thirasaara", which is the
Sinhala word for sustainability was used in this study in providing
a just definition for the sustainability in the context of Sri Lankan
culture based on unique "pada nirukthi" (mo ksrela;s) method. The
nature of this study is descriptive. Although the term
'sustainability' has been interpreted differently according to
various purposes, this study confirmed that those definitions
hardly derived the fairest definition for "thirasaara". According to
the "pada nirukthi" method used in this study, it was found that
continuously maintaining the conceptual nature is "thirasaara". In
other words "thirasaara" is maintaining "saara" things in a "thira"
way. The definition, which uncovers the quality of "thirasaara" is
uncovering self-aromatic properties and Arya qualities or
uncovering "Swayn Bhu Ariya Guna". Further studies are needed
to explain the components of "Swayn Bhu" and "Ariya Guna" and
this need for a further study is being introduced as a research gap.
In conclusion, the study emphasizes that it is more appropriate to
consider the "pada nirukthi" of any word from its mother tongue
with an open mind based on its cultural heritage, language and
peculiarities to understand the real meaning of a word.
