Language

The language of the Maldivians is Dhivehi, a language which is placed in the Indro-Indian group of languages. Dhivehi with its roots in Sanskrit and according to some researchers Elu, an ancient form of Sinhala, (spoken in Sri Lanka), is strongly influenced by the major languages of the region. The language has been influenced heavily from Arabic since the advent of the Islam in 1153 and English in more recent times, especially since the introduction of English as a medium of education in the early 1960s. Given the wide dispersion of islands it is not surprising that the vocabulary and pronunciation vary from atoll to atoll, with the difference being more significant in the dialects spoken in the southernmost atolls. The Maldivian script known as thaana was invented during the 16th century soon after the country was liberated from Portuguese rule. Unlike former scripts thaana is written from right to left. This was devised to accommodate Arabic words that are frequently used in Dhivehi. There are 24 letters in the thaana alphabet. Top of page

Dhivehi Phrases
Hello (formal) Hello (informal) How are you? Yes No Where? Why? Who? There Here What? This Assalaamu Alaikum Kihineh? Haalu kihineh? Aan Noon Kobaa? Keevve? Kaaku? Ethaa Mithaa Koacheh? Mi

That What is (your)name? My name is Good Goodbye (informal) Where are you from? Thank you I am sorry How old are you? My age is

E Kon nameh kiyanee? Aharenge namakee Ran'galhu Dhanee Kon rasheh? Shukuriyaa Ma-aafu kurey Umurun kihaa vareh? Aharenge umurakee

Where are (you) going? Or What place are we going? Kon thanakah dhanee? What time are (we) going? Kon irakun dhanee? What is the price? Agu kihaavareh? How long will it take? Kihaa ireh nagaanee? What time is it? Gadin kihaa ireh? What island is that? E-ee kon rasheh? Without getting emotional let us examine Dhivehi. It is rich in few areas. For example for coconut there are many words in Dhivehi, each word denoting the age of the fruit starting from gobolhi to kurolhi. Similarly for sea there are many words in Dhivehi denoting the depth and in some intances the size of the shallow area. For legal jargon and even for various emotions we have to borrow words either from Arabic or English. Although we dont acknowledge it, Dhivehi is 3 languages in one. They are HOO ANNA, LABBA DHURUVAN and AADHE VADAIGANNAVAN. From the way these 3 are used you can know the class relationship between the people communicating.

A bill to protect Dhivehi, the Maldivian language, has been presented to parliament by Peoples Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Azeez Jamaal Abubakuru. Jamaal said that the Dhivehi language was why Maldivians remain as Maldivians and the source of the countrys success. Dhivehi is one of the most valuable national relics that our forefathers have delivered to us, Jamaal said. Without doubt it is our responsibility to deliver it to the next generation safely, like our forefathers did. Jamaal said if people were careless with their mother-tongue, there was a potential for words to be lost. I believe that allowing the Maldivian language to dissolve is like dissolving our nationality, he said. Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Colonel Nasheed thanked MP Jamaal for presenting the bill, but said he did not believe a bill was the only solution. Nasheed said that linguistic experts of had noted that languages form, change and decease naturally. A perfect research paper on this was produced by Dr Noam Chomsky, he said. All these things are mentioned very clearly in his book, Language Death. It mentions three stages a language goes through before it dissolves. Nasheed said that research conducted by UNESCO showed that there were 6800 languages used in the world. Our language is included in a list of languages in the report that are at risk of disappearing in 20 years. Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader and MP Ali Waheed said that he supported the bill. It was not for political gain that we criticised the disbanding of the National Centre for Arts and Culture, Waheed said. We were just expressing concern. Waheed said that although the Maldives was just a small dot compared to many much larger countries, we should be proud to have our own language.