This page brings together basic information about the Thaana script and its use for the Maldivian language, Dhivehi. It aims to provide a brief, descriptive summary of the modern, printed orthography and typographic features, and to advise how to write Dhivehi using Unicode.
Sample
Select part of this sample text to show a list of characters, with links to more details. Source
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The Thaana script is used for writing the Maldivian language, also known as Dhivehi, spoken by about 370,000 people in the Maldives and in Maldivian communities in India.
ތާނަtə̄nətəːnəThaanaIt is thought that speakers of Dhivehi have written their language for over two thousand years, and that writing was developed by Maldivian Buddhist monks translating the Buddhist scriptures.
Over time, the script evolved, slanting the letters by 45 degrees and adding spaces between words. The earliest known sample of the Thaana script (rather than the Dhives Akuru alphabet) is inscribed on the main Friday mosque of the island and dates back to AD 1599.
Dhivehi is an alphabeticabjad. All vowels are written, but as diacritics above the consonants. See the table to the right for a brief overview of features for the modern Dhivehi orthography using the Thaana script.
Thaana text is written horizontally, right to left, but unlike Arabic or N'Ko, the text is not cursive. Multi-digit numbers are displayed left-to-right.
Words are separated by spaces.
The script is monocameral.
Dhivehi has 24 basic consonant letters, but the repertoire also contains 14 extra consonants to represent the sounds of Arabic and English.
There are 10 vowel letters, all of which are combining marks and which must be used. An additional mark is used to indicate consonant clusters, or absence of a vowel after a consonant base.
Numbers use ASCII digits.
The visual forms of letters don't usually interact. Punctuation mixes ASCII and Arabic characters.
Character index
Letters
Show
Basic consonants
ޕ␣ބ␣ތ␣ދ␣ޗ␣ޖ␣ޓ␣ޑ␣ކ␣ގ␣ފ␣ވ␣ސ␣ޒ␣ށ␣ހ␣މ␣ނ␣ޏ␣ރ␣ލ␣ޅ␣ޔ␣އ
Extended consonants
ޠ␣ޟ␣ޤ␣ޘ␣ޛ␣ޞ␣ޡ␣ޝ␣ޜ␣ޚ␣ޣ␣ޙ␣ޢ␣ޥ
Other
ޕ
Not used for modern Dhivehi
ޱ
Combining marks
Show
Vowels
ި␣ީ␣ު␣ޫ␣ެ␣ޭ␣ަ␣ާ␣ޮ␣ޯ
Other
ް
Punctuation
Show،␣؛
ASCII
(␣)␣.␣:␣?␣!
Items to show in lists
Structure
Native Maldivian words do not allow initial consonant clusters. The syllable structure is (C)V(C), ie. one vowel with the option of a consonant in the onset and/or coda. This affects the introduction of loanwords, such as is.kuːl from English school.wp
Phonology
These are sounds for the Dhivehi language.
Click on the sound groups to see where else in the document each of the sounds are referred to.
Phones in a lighter colour are non-native or allophones. Source wp.
Vowel sounds
Consonant sounds
labial
dental
alveolar
post-
alveolar
retroflex
palatal
velar
uvular
pharyngeal
glottal
stops
pb
td
ʈɖ
cɟ
kɡ
q
pre-nasalised
ᵐb
ⁿd
ᶯɖ
ᵑɡ
ejective
tˤdˤ
affricate
fricatives
f
θð
sz
ʃʒ
ʂ
ɕ
xɣ
ħʕ
h
ejective
sˤzˤ
nasal
m
n
ɳ
ɲ
ŋ
approximant
ʋw
l̪
l
ɭ
j
trill/flap
r
Vowels
Click on the characters in the lists for detailed information.
Vowel diacritics
All vowels are always written, but as diacritics above or below the consonant they follow.
ި␣ީ␣ު␣ޫ␣ެ␣ޭ␣ަ␣ާ␣ޮ␣ޯ
Vowel absence
ް
The diacritic ◌ް[U+07B0 THAANA SUKUN] indicates that there is no vowel following the consonant it sits on. This is always used, with one exception: when ށ[U+0781 THAANA LETTER SHAVIYANI] is written with no diacritic, this indicates prenasalization of a following stop, eg. ކަނޑު It is the only case where a letter can appear without a diacritic.
Standalone vowels
Thaana represents standalone vowels using އ[U+0787 THAANA LETTER ALIFU] as a base, to which vowel diacritics are attached.
Consonants
Click on the characters in the lists for detailed information.
Basic consonants
For writing the languages of the Maldives there are 24 consonants in this block.
Stops
ޕ␣ބ␣ތ␣ދ␣ޗ␣ޖ␣ޓ␣ޑ␣ކ␣ގ
Fricatives
ފ␣ވ␣ސ␣ޒ␣ށ␣ހ
Nasals
މ␣ނ␣ޏ
Other sonorants
ރ␣ލ␣ޅ␣ޔ␣އ
Repertoire extension
A further 14 dotted versions of the normal consonants are available for transcribing Arabic sounds and the English sound ʒ (ޜ).
ޠ␣ޟ␣ޤ␣ޘ␣ޛ␣ޞ␣ޡ␣ޝ␣ޜ␣ޚ␣ޣ␣ޙ␣ޢ␣ޥ
Obsolete consonant
There is also one character, ޱ[U+07B1 THAANA LETTER NAA], that was abolished from Maldivian official documents around 1953, but it is still seen in reprints of old books like the Bodu Tartheebu, and is used by the people of Addu Atoll and Fuvahmulah.
ޱ
Consonant clusters
The diacritic ◌ް[U+07B0 THAANA SUKUN] attached to a consonant signifies that it is not followed by a vowel.
The sukun is also used over a few other characters to indicate gemination of the following consonant, eg.
ބައްޓެއްއެންމެ
Numbers, dates, currency, etc.
Either european digits or arabic-indic digits are used.
Text direction
Thaana script is written horizontally and right-to-left in the main, but as with most RTL scripts, numbers and embedded LTR script text are written left-to-right (producing 'bidirectional' text).
7.2.2 ބައްތެލި
The section number in this example is read LTR, ie 7.2.2, but the Thaana word following is RTL.
This section brings together information about the following topics:
writing styles;
cursive text;
context-based shaping;
context-based positioning;
baselines, line height, etc.;
font styles;
case & other character transforms.
This section looks at ways in which spacing is applied between characters over and above that which is introduced during justification.
Baselines, line height, etc.
tbd
Thaana uses the so-called 'alphabetic' baseline, which is the same as for Latin and many other scripts.
Counters, lists, etc.
tbd
Styling initials
tbd
Page & book layout
This section is for any features that are specific to Thaana and that relate to the following topics:
general page layout & progression;
grids & tables;
notes, footnotes, etc;
forms & user interaction;
page numbering, running headers, etc.
