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Dhivehi
Maldivian
ދިވެހި, dhivehi
"Dhivehi" written in the Thaana script
Pronunciation
[d̪iʋehi]
Native to
Maldives Minicoy Island (Maliku)
Ethnicity
Maldivians
Native speakers
500,000 (2022)[1]
Language family
Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Indo-Aryan
Southern Zone
Insular Indo-Aryan
Sinhalese–Maldivian
Dhivehi
Early form
Old Dhivehi
Writing system
Thaana Dhives Akuru until the 19th century
Signed forms
Dhivehi Sign Language
Official status
Official language in
Maldives
Regulated by
Dhivehi Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-1
dv
ISO 639-2
div
ISO 639-3
div
Glottolog
dhiv1236
IETF
dv-MV
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Maldivian in Carl Faulmann [de]'s Das Buch der Schrift, 1880
Maldivian,[1] also known by its endonym Dhivehi[2] or Divehi[3][4] (/dɪˈveɪhi/di-VAY-hee;[5] Dhivehi: ދިވެހި, IPA:[d̪iʋehi]), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the South Asian island country of Maldives[6] and on Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, a union territory of India.
The Maldivian language has four notable dialects. The standard dialect is that of the capital city of Malé. The greatest dialectal variation exists in the southern atolls of Huvadhu, Addu and Fuvahmulah. Each of these atolls has its own distinct dialect often thought to be interconnected with each other while being widely different from the dialect spoken in the northern atolls. The southern dialects are so distinct that those only speaking northern dialects cannot understand them.[6]
The ethnic endonym for the language, Divehi, is occasionally found in English as Dhivehi (spelled according to the locally used Malé Latin for the romanisation of the Maldivian language), which is the official spelling as well as the common usage in the Maldives. Dhivehi is written in Thaana script.
Dhivehi is a descendant of Elu Prakrit and is closely related to Sinhalese, but not mutually intelligible with it. Many languages have influenced the development of Dhivehi through the ages. They include Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Tamil, French, Portuguese, and English. The English words atoll (a ring of coral islands or reefs) and dhoni (a vessel for inter-atoll navigation) are anglicised forms of the Maldivian words atoḷu and dōni. Before European colonization of the Southern Hemisphere, it was the southernmost Indo-European language.
^"Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: div". ISO 639-2 Registration Authority – Library of Congress. Retrieved 8 July 2017. Divehi; Dhivehi; Maldivian
^"Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: div". ISO 639-3 Registration Authority – SIL International. Retrieved 8 July 2017. Dhivehi, Divehi, Maldivian
^"Dhivehi". The Chambers Dictionary (9th ed.). Chambers. 2003. ISBN 0-550-10105-5.
^ abB. D, Cain (2000). Introduction. Dhivehi (Maldivian): A Synchronic and Diachronic Study (Thesis). Cornell Univ. [Ithaca]. p. 1.
and 24 Related for: Maldivian language information
Maldivian, also known by its endonym Dhivehi or Divehi (/dɪˈveɪhi/ di-VAY-hee; Dhivehi: ދިވެހި, IPA: [d̪iʋehi]), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the...
Lakshadweep, India. Maldivians share one culture and speak the Maldivianlanguage, which is a member of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages. For ethnographic...
borrowed various aspects into its main Indo-Aryan substrate), and the Maldivianlanguage. It has two main varieties, written and spoken, and is a conspicuous...
of the Maldivianlanguage in the Latin script varies from one scheme to another. The following are the major romanization methods for Maldivian: Mālē Leṭin...
survives today. The Maldivianlanguage, early Maldive scripts, architecture, ruling institutions, customs, and manners of the Maldivians originated at the...
Several Dhivehi scripts have been used by Maldivians during their history. The early Dhivehi scripts fell into the abugida category, while the more recent...
The Maldivian diaspora refers to the community of Maldivians, speakers of the Maldivianlanguage, who have either emigrated from the Republic of Maldives...
Minicoy in Union territory of Lakshadweep, India Maldivianlanguage ("Dhivehi language"), the language spoken in the historic region of the Maldive Islands...
phonemic inventory of Maldivian (Dhivehi) consists of 29 consonants and 10 vowels. Like other modern Indo-Aryan languages the Maldivian phonemic inventory...
Tãnaa, Taana or Tāna ( ތާނަ ) is the present writing system of the Maldivianlanguage spoken in the Maldives. Thaana has characteristics of both an abugida...
Akuru, later called Dhivehi Akuru (meaning Maldivian letters) is a script formerly used for the Maldivianlanguage. The name can be alternatively spelled...
Old Dhivehi is the earliest attested form of the Maldivianlanguage, recorded in Loamaafaanu in the 12th and 13th centuries CE and various Buddhist texts...
Hasan Manikufaan ranks as the most important major littérateur in the Maldivianlanguage. Addu Bandeyri Hasan Manikufaan wrote Dhiyoage Raivaru. Other poets...
by the Second Vatican Council Deo volente, Latin for 'God willing' Maldivianlanguage, and dialects Dhivehi and Mahl (ISO 639-1 alpha-2 code DV) Albatros...
"Dhivehi Latin" which ignored all previous linguistic research on the Maldivianlanguage and did not follow the modern Standard Indic transliteration.Clarence...
Muizzu's People's National Congress (PNC) and a heavy defeat for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which won a similar landslide in the 2019 elections...
The Maldivian Democratic Party (Dhivehi: ދިވެހި ރައްޔިތުންގެ ޑިމޮކްރެޓިކް ޕާޓީ, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Demokretik Paati; MDP) is the first political party...
1957), South African politician Ahmed Shafeeq Ibrahim Moosa (born 1968), Maldivian scientist and politician Naushad Moosa (born 1971), Indian footballer...
Maldivian Sign Language (MvSL) is a sign language that was developed, largely spontaneously, by deaf children in a number of schools in Maldives in the...
dialect, of the Dhivehi language spoken on Minicoy Island, India Mahl writing systems, for the Mahl dialect of the Maldivianlanguage Mahl (town), Andhra...
Persian language contexts, the transliterations Ḥosayn, Hosayn, or Hossein are sometimes used. In the transliteration of Indo-Aryan languages, the forms...
defeating the-then Speaker of the People's Majlis Mohamed Nasheed in the Maldivian Democratic Party primaries. People's National Congress candidate and Malé...
2006. Retrieved 27 February 2006. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maldivian Wikipedia. Dhivehi Wikipedia website (mobile version) Portals: Internet...
flourished. The Maldivianlanguage, the first Maldive scripts, the architecture, the ruling institutions, the customs and manners of the Maldivians originated...
Global Information
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