Dhivehi ދިވެހި | | Spoken in: | Maldives; Lakshadweep (India) | | Total speakers: | 300,000 | | Language family: | Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Insular Indo-Aryan Dhivehi | | Official status | | Official language of: | Maldives | | Regulated by: | no official regulation | | Language codes | | ISO 639-1: | dv | | ISO 639-2: | div | | ISO 639-3: | div | | | This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More... | | Dhivehi or Divehi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 300,000 people in the Republic of Maldives where it is the official language of the country and in the island of Minicoy (Maliku) in neighbouring India where it is known as Mahl. Dhivehi is closely related to Sinhala. Many languages have influenced the development of Dhivehi through the ages, most importantly Arabic. Others include Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, French, Persian, Portuguese, and English. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ...
The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ...
The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. ...
The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ...
The Insular Indo-Aryan languages (also known as Sinhalese-Maldivian) include three languages and dialects spoken on the islands of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; this language group is a part of the Indo-Aryan language family. ...
ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ...
ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ...
ISO 639-3 is an international standard for language codes. ...
Image File history File links Example. ...
The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas (writing systems) used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria. ...
The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ...
Minicoy Island (Maliku) Minicoy Island or Maliku is the second largest and the southern-most island of the Laccadive Archipelago north of the Maldives. ...
Mahl or Mahal is a dialect of Divehi spoken in the Indian island of Minicoy. ...
Sinhalese or Sinhala (à·à·à¶à·à¶½, ISO 15919: , IPA: [], earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka. ...
Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ...
Tamil ( ; IPA ) is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka, with smaller communities of speakers in many other countries. ...
Malayalam (മലയാളഠ) is the language spoken predominantly in the state of Kerala, in southern India. ...
Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union along with English. ...
Persian (Local names: ÙØ§Ø±Ø³Û Fârsi or Ù¾Ø§Ø±Ø³Û Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
H.C.P. Bell was one of the first transliterators of this tongue. Bell called the language Divehi, which was consistent with "Maldives", the name of the country, for the '-dives' of "Maldives" and the word 'Divehi' have the same root which is 'dvīp' ('island' in Sanskrit). Wilhelm Geiger was a German linguist who undertook the first research on Divehi linguistics in the early 20th century. Geiger also called the Maldivian language Divehi, without an "h". In 1976, when a semi-official Latin Transliteration was developed for the Maldive language, an 'h' was added to the name of the language, but not to the name of the country. This inconsistency has yet to be resolved. Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ...
Malé Latin or Nasiri Latin was a popular romanization scheme for Mahal used in 70s. ...
English words such as atoll (a ring of coral islands or reefs) and doni (a vessel for inter-atoll navigation) are anglicized forms of the Maldivian words "Atolhu" and "Dōni" (the latter derived from a Tamil word for boat). Portion of a Pacific atoll showing two islets on the ribbon or barrier reef separated by a deep pass between the ocean and the lagoon. ...
Look up Tamil in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Origin Divehi is an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhalese language of Sri Lanka. Divehi represents the southernmost Indo-Aryan language, and thus the southernmost Indo-European language. Together with the Sinhalese, Divehi represents a special subgroup within the Modern Indo-Aryan languages which is called Insular Indo-Aryan. The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ...
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ...
The Insular Indo-Aryan languages (also known as Sinhalese-Maldivian) include three languages and dialects spoken on the islands of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; this language group is a part of the Indo-Aryan language family. ...
Whereas earlier it was believed that Divehi was a descendant of the Sinhalese language, in 1969 Sinhalese philologist M. W. S. de Silva for the first time proposed that Dhivehi and Sinhalese have branched off from a common mother language (a Prakrit). He says that “the earliest Indic element in Maldivian is not so much a result of branching off from Sinhalese as a result of a simultaneous separation with Sinhalese from the Indic languages of the mainland of India”. S. Fritz has recently reached the same conclusion in a detailed study of the language. De Silva refers to the Dravidian influences seen in the Dhivehi language such as in the old place names. De Silva’s theory is supported by the legend of Prince Vijaya as told in the Mahavamsa because if this legend is to be believed, the migration of Indo-Aryan colonists to the Maldives and Sri Lanka from the mainland (India) must have taken place simultaneously. Prakrit (also spelt Pracrit) (Sanskrit: , original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual, i. ...
The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages[1] that are mainly spoken in southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka, as well as certain areas in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and eastern and central India, as well as in parts of Afghanistan and Iran, and overseas in other countries such...
There is a story about Vijaya and his men landing on the shores of Sri-Lanka. ...
The Mahavansha, also Mahawansha, (PÄli: great chronicle) is a historical record, often thought to be the oldest written record oh history, written in the PÄli language, of the Buddhist kings as well as Dravidian kings of Sri Lanka. ...
The Indo-Aryans are a wide collection of peoples united by their common status as speakers of the Indo-Aryan (Indic) branch of the family of Indo-European and Indo-Iranian languages. ...
Variants of the language Due to the widespread distribution of the islands, differences in pronunciation and vocabulary have developed during the centuries. The mainstream form of Divehi is known as Malé Bas and is based on the variant spoken in the capital of the country. Malé (Dhivehi: ÞÞ§ÞÞ¬), (pronounced: Maa-lay) population 81,647 (2004), is the capital of the Republic of Maldives located at the southern edge of North Male Atoll Kaafu Atoll. ...
The most important variants of the language are to be found in the southern atolls, namely Huvadu, Fua Mulaku and Addu. Slighter variants are spoken in Haddummati and in Minicoy Island, the latter being known as Maliku Bas. Only Male Bas and Maliku Bas are used in writing. The other variants are only used in spoken speech and in popular songs and poetry. Huvadhoo Atoll is divided into two administrative atolls, Gaafu Alif and Gaafu Dhaalu Huvadhu or Huvadhoo- the largest atoll in the Maldives and in the whole world. ...
Fua Mulaku or Gnaviyani Atoll is the smallest atoll in the Maldives, situated in the Equatorial channel between Huvadhu and Addu. ...
Addu or Seenu Atoll is the southernmost atoll of the Republic of Maldives. ...
Minicoy Island (Maliku) Minicoy Island or Maliku is the second largest and the southern-most island of the Laccadive Archipelago north of the Maldives. ...
Mahal (ÞÞ¦ÞÞ¦ÞÞ°) or Mahl, also known locally as Maliku Bas, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the people of Minicoy Island (Maliku), in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. ...
Mahal (ÞÞ¦ÞÞ¦ÞÞ°) or Mahl, also known locally as Maliku Bas, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the people of Minicoy Island (Maliku), in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. ...
Levels of speech Inherent in the Dhivehi language is a form of elaborate class distinction expressed through three levels: The first level, the enme maa goiy (known colloquially as reethi bas), is used to address members of the upper class and of royal blood, but is now more often used on national radio and TV. To show respect for elders, officials and strangers the second level, maa goy is used. People use the more informal third level aadhaige goiy in everyday life and to talk about themselves. Even a nobleman or a high official does not use the high level to talk about himself. Regarding salutations, there is no direct translation of the English "hello" or "good-bye" in Dhivehi. Instead, islanders greet each other with a smile or the raising of the eyebrow and just ask "where are you going?", followed by "what for?". Goodbyes were not traditionally expressed, except in highly formal speech or in poetry (Lhen).
Dhivehi scripts -
The Maldivian language has had its own script since very ancient times, most likely over two millennia, when Maldivian Buddhist monks translated and copied the Buddhist scriptures. The Divehi or Dhivehi writing systems are the different scripts used by Maldivians during their history. ...
It used to be written in the earlier form (Evēla) of the Divehi Akuru (or Dives Akuru, "Dhivehi letters") which are written from left to right. Divehi Akuru were used in all of the islands between the conversion to Islam and until the 1700s. These ancient Maldivian letters were also used in official correspondence with Addu Atoll until the early 1900s. Perhaps they were used in some isolated islands and rural communities until the 1960s, but the last remaining native user died in the 1990s. Today Maldivians rarely learn the Divehi Akuru alphabet, for Arabic is being favoured as second script. This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...
Divehi or Dhivehi is presently written using a different script, called Thaana or Tāna, written from right to left. This script is relatively recent. Thaana (written â in Thaana) is the writing system for the Dhivehi language spoken in the Maldives. ...
The literacy rate of the Maldives is very high (98%) compared to other South Asian countries. Since the 1960s English has become the medium of education in most schools although they still have Dhivehi classes, but Dhivehi is still the language used for the overall administration.
Latin Transliteration of the Dhivehi language Towards the mid 1970s, during President Ibrahim Nasir's tenure, Telex machines were introduced by the Maldivian Government in the local administration. The new telex equipment was viewed as a great progress, however the local Tāna script was deemed to be an obstacle because messages on the telex machines could only be written in the Latin script. Following this, "Dhivehi Leţin", a new official Latin transliteration was swiftly approved by the Maldive government in 1976 and was quickly implemented by the administration. Booklets were printed and dispatched to all Atoll and Island Offices, as well as schools and merchant liners. This was seen by many as the effective demise of the Tāna script. Optical Telegraf of Claude Chappe on the Litermont near Nalbach, Germany Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele (Ïηλε) = far and graphein (γÏαÏειν) = write) is the long-distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally by changing something that could be observed from a distance (optical telegraphy). ...
Teletype machines in World War II A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY for TeleTYpe/TeleTYpewriter) is a now largely obsolete electro-mechanical typewriter which can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point through a simple electrical communications channel, often just a pair of wires. ...
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ...
Clarence Maloney, the American anthropologist who was in the Maldives at the time of the change, lamented the crude inconsistencies of the "Dhivehi Leţin" which ignored all previous linguistic research on the Maldivian language done by H.C.P. Bell and Wilhelm Geiger. He wondered why the modern Standard Indic transliteration had not been considered. Standard Indic is a consistent script system that is well adapted to writing practically all languages of South Asia.[1] The Divehi or Dhivehi writing systems are the different scripts used by Maldivians during their history. ...
The Tāna script was reinstated by the Maldivian government shortly after President Maumoon took power in 1978. There was widespread relief in certain places, especially rural areas, where the introduction of Latin had been regarded with suspicion. However, the substandard Latin transcription of 1976 continues to be widely used.
References - ^ Clarence Maloney; People of the Maldive Islands
- Bell, H.C.P. 'The Maldive Islands. Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy. Reprint 1940 edn. Malé 1986.
- H.C.P. Bell, The Maldive Islands, An account of the Physical Features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade'. Colombo 1883, ISBN 81 206 1222 1
- Bell, H.C.P. Excerpta Maldiviana. Reprint 1922-1935 edn. New Delhi 1998.
- Divehi Bahuge Qawaaaid. Vols 1 to 5. Ministry of Education. Malé 1978.
- Divehīnge Tarika. Divehīnge Bas. Divehibahāi Tārikhah Khidumaykurā Qaumī Majlis. Malé 2000.
- Fritz, Sonja. The Dhivehi Language - A Descriptive and Historical Grammar of Maldivian and Its Dialects. Heidelberg, 2002, ISBN 3-89913-248-3
- Geiger, Wilhelm. Maldivian Linguistic Studies. Reprint 1919 edn. Novelty Press. Malé 1986.
- Maloney, Clarence. People of the Maldive Islands. Orient Longman. New Delhi.
- Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84 7254 801 5
External links Dhivehi language edition of Wiktionary, the free dictionary/thesaurus |