Thaana script
The Thaana script was developed during the 18th century by an unknown inventor. It first appeared in government documents in 1703 and replaced an older alphabet known as Dives akuru.
Some of the Taana letters were derived from Dives akuru, while others were modelled on Arabic numerals. Vowel indication is modelled on the Arabic system of diacritics.
Notable features
- Type of writing system: vocalised abjad
- Direction of writing: Words are written from right to left, but numerals are written from left to right.
- Originally Arabic numerals were used, however nowadays Western numerals (1, 2, 3, etc) are used.
- Vowels are indicated with diacritics which appear above or below the consonants. When vowels are come at the beginning of a word or are pronounced separately, they are attached to the letter alifu.
- When the sukun symbol is combined with the letter alifu it either doubles the following consonant, or if it appears at the end of a word after an "e", it adds and "h" sound.
- A number of letters are used solely for writing Arabic loan words.
Used to write:
Maldivian (Dhivehi), an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives and and by about 10,000 in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep in India.
Major dialects of Maldivian are Malé, Huvadhu, Mulaku, Addu, Haddhunmathee and Maliku, with the Malé dialect of the Maldivian capital being considered the standard. In Mincoy the Maliku dialect is spoken and is known as Mahl.
Maldivian is closely related to, though not mutually intelligible with, Sinhalese. It has been influenced by and aborbed words from a number of languages, including Arabic, French, Persian, Portuguese, Urdu and English.
Thaana consonants
Thaana vowel diacritics
Letters used for transliterating Arabic words (thiki jehi thaana)
Top row: Thaana letters, bottom row: the Arabic letters on which they are modelled
Note
the letter zaa is also used to write the English sound /ʒ/.
Download the script charts (Excel format)
Sample texts
Transliteration
Hurihaa insaanun ves ufanvanee, dharaja'aa'i ḥa'quthakuga'i minivankamaa'i hamahamakan libigenvaa ba'e'ge gothuga'eve. Emeehunnash heyo visnumaa'i, heyo bu'dheege baaru libigenva'ava. Adhi emeehan ekaku anekakaa medhu mu˂aamalaath kuranvaanee, ukhu'vaththeri kamuge rooḥe'ga'ava.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Transliteration
al'la'ufedhey qaanoonu asaaseege himaayaïlibigen siyaaseepaateetha' hingeynegoïtha' hamajehifaïneïnama e'qaanoonuge misaalakee alifaanroavej'jenama salaamaïvaane sidie'neï ethake'bureege imaaraathe'ge misaaleve.
Translation
A newly formed constitution which does not give protection to political parties under it terms, is equivalent to a multi-storey building with no fire exits.
The sample text comes from the Maldivian news paper Sandhaanu, 15th August 2002
Links
Information about the Dhivehi language and Thaana script
Free Thaana fonts
Dhivehi thaana - reading and writing the Maldivian language
Divehi phrases
Send email in the Thaana script
Haveeru Online - online version of a daliy newspaper in Divehi and English (uses dynamic fonts): http://www.haveeru.com.mv
Maldives websites
Indo-Aryan languages
Awadhi, Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Chakma, Dhivehi, Fiji Hindi, Gujarati, Hindi,Kashmiri, Konkani, Kotia, Kutchi, Maithili, Marathi, Marwari, Modi, Nepali, Odia,Punjabi, Rajasthani, Romani, Saraiki, Sarnámi Hindustani, Sindhi, Sinhala,Sourashtra, Sugali, Sylheti, Urdu
Alphabets
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محتويات
[أظهر]أصل[عدل]
أول تسعة حروف من مشتقة من الأرقام الهندية العربية من ١ إلى ٩. الحروف التسعة التالية مشتقة من الأرقام الهندية المحلية. الحروف الباقية مأخوذة من العربية.
حروف[عدل]
| ◄حرف | اسمه | أربتانة* | صوتية |
|---|
- علامة السكون (◌ް) مثل علامة السكون العربية.
- الألف (އ) تستعمل كالألف العربية. تدل عندما تكون ساكنة على تشديد الحرف الذي بعدها، وتلفظ [eh] إذا جاءت ساكنة في آخر الكلمة.
- أرَبِتانة (ޢަރަބިތާނަ) هو اسم الأبجدية العربية الملديفية التي كانت تستعمل لتدريس نصوص الدين ونحوها.[1]
- شفيني (ށަވިޔަނީ) أو رفيني[2] هو الحرف الثاني أبجدية تانة. يقول ولهلم كيكر فيه:
الصوت صعب الوصف والمحاكاة. يتنوع بين الراء، الهاء والسين: لينا بالأحرى؛ وهو، بقدر ما أستطيع أن ألاحظ، ملفوظ بوضع طرف اللسان في أعلى جزء من الحنك، وترك النفس يفلت بين جوانب الأسنان.[3]
(النص الأصلي)
يونيكود[عدل]
| تانة جدول يونيكود | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+078x | ހ | ށ | ނ | ރ | ބ | ޅ | ކ | އ | ވ | މ | ފ | ދ | ތ | ލ | ގ | ޏ |
| U+079x | ސ | ޑ | ޒ | ޓ | ޔ | ޕ | ޖ | ޗ | ޘ | ޙ | ޚ | ޛ | ޜ | ޝ | ޞ | ޟ |
| U+07Ax | ޠ | ޡ | ޢ | ޣ | ޤ | ޥ | ަ | ާ | ި | ީ | ު | ޫ | ެ | ޭ | ޮ | ޯ |
| U+07Bx | ް | ޱ | ||||||||||||||
انظر أيضا[عدل]
مراجع[عدل]
- ^ {{{2}}}. ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ އަޑު.
- ^ العلامة أحمد شهاب الدين، كتاب في آثار ميدو القديمية [ك]. ماليه
- ^ Wilhelm Geiger (1919), Maldivian Linguistic Studies. Colombo
///////////////
Thaana, Taana or Tāna ( ތާނަ in Tāna script) is the modern writing system of the Maldivian language spoken in the Maldives. Thaana has characteristics of both an abugida (diacritic, vowel-killer strokes) and a truealphabet (all vowels are written), with consonants derived from indigenous and Arabic numerals, and vowels derived from the vowel diacritics of the Arabic abjad. Its orthography is largely phonemic.
The Thaana script first appeared in a Maldivian document towards the beginning of the 18th century in a crude initial form known as Gabulhi Thaana which was written scripta continua. This early script slowly developed, its characters slanting 45 degrees, becoming more graceful and spaces were added between words. As time went by it gradually replaced the older Dhives Akuru alphabet. The oldest written sample of the Thaana script is found in the island of Kanditheemu in Northern Miladhunmadulu Atoll. It is inscribed on the door posts of the main Hukuru Miskiy (Friday mosque) of the island and dates back to 1008 AH (AD 1599) and 1020 AH (AD 1611) when the roof of the building were built and the renewed during the reigns of Ibrahim Kalaafaan (Sultan Ibrahim III) and Hussain Faamuladeyri Kilege (Sultan Hussain II) respectively.
Thaana, like Arabic, is written right to left. It indicates vowels with diacritic marks derived from Arabic. Each letter must carry either a vowel or a sukun (which indicates "no vowel"). The only exception to this rule isnūnu which, when written without a diacritic, indicates prenasalization of a following stop.
The vowel or diacritical signs are called fili in Maldivian; there are five fili for short vowels (a, i, u, e, o), where the first two look identical to the Arabic vowel signs (fatha and kasra) and the third one (damma) looks somewhat similar. Long vowels (ā, ē, ī, ō and ū) are denoted by doubled fili (except ō, which is a modification of the short obofili).
The letter alifu has no sound value of its own and is used for three different purposes: It can act as a carrier for a vowel with no preceding consonant, that is, a word-initial vowel or the second part of a diphthong; when it carries asukun, it indicates gemination (lengthening) of the following consonant; and if alifu+sukun occurs at the end of a word, it indicates that the word ends in /eh/. Gemination of nasals, however, is indicated by nūnu+sukun preceding the nasal to be geminated.
Contents
[show]Origin[edit]
The origins of Tāna are unique among the world's alphabets: The first nine letters (h–v) are derived from the Arabic numerals, whereas the next nine (m–d) were the local Indic numerals. (See Hindu-Arabic numerals.) The remaining letters for loanwords (z–ch) and Arabic transliteration are derived from phonetically similar native consonants by means of diacritics, with the exception of y, which is of unknown origin. This means that Thaana is one of the few alphabets not derived graphically from the original Semitic alphabet — unless the Indic numerals were (see Brahmi numerals).
The order of the Tāna alphabet (hā, shaviyani, nūnu, rā, bā, etc.) doesn’t follow the order of other Indic scripts or of the Arabic script. There is no apparent logic to the order; this has been interpreted as suggesting that the script was scrambled to keep it secret from average islanders. The script was originally used primarily to write magical (fadinta) incantations. These included Arabic quotations, written from right to left. Maldivian learned men, who were all well versed in sorcery, saw the advantages of writing in this simplified hidden script, and Tāna was gradually adopted for everyday use.[1]
Tāna nearly disappeared for a brief period in recent history. 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, but Tāna was seen as an obstacle because messages on thetelex machines could only be written in the Latin script. Consequently, in 1976, the Maldivian government officially approved a rough Latin transliteration for Maldivian and the administration quickly implemented it. Booklets were printed and dispatched to all Atoll and Island Offices, as well as schools and merchant liners. Many saw this as the demise of the Tāna script.
This official Latin script (Maldivian Latin) made indiscriminate use of "h"s for non-aspirated sounds, inconsistent with the clear phonetic rules of Indic languages. It also used certain combinations of letters and apostrophes for some Arabic sounds that effectively ignored the Arabic transliterations accepted in academic circles worldwide. The long vowels "oo" and "ee" were introduced from English, reminiscent of colonial transcriptions.
Clarence Maloney, the American anthropologist who was in the Maldives at the time of the change, lamented the crude inconsistencies of the Maldivian Latin and wondered why modern Standard Indic transliteration had not been considered.[2]
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom reinstated the Tāna script shortly after he took power in 1978, although the Latin transcription of 1976 continues to be widely used.
Alphabet[edit]
| Letter | Name | Nasiri Romanization | IPA value |
|---|---|---|---|
ހ
| haa | h | [h] |
ށ
| shaviyani | sh | [ʂ] |
ނ
| noonu | n | [n̪] |
ރ
| raa | r | [ɾ] |
ބ
| baa | b | [b] |
ޅ
| lhaviyani | lh | [ɭ] |
ކ
| kaafu | k | [k] |
އ
| alifu | varies | see article |
ވ
| vaavu | v | [ʋ] |
މ
| meemu | m | [m] |
ފ
| faafu | f | [f] |
ދ
| dhaalu | dh | [d̪] |
ތ
| thaa | th | [t̪] |
ލ
| laamu | l | [l] |
ގ
| gaafu | g | [ɡ] |
ޏ
| gnaviyani | gn | [ɲ] |
ސ
| seenu | s | [s̺] |
ޑ
| daviyani | d | [ɖ] |
ޒ
| zaviyani | z | [z̺] |
ޓ
| taviyani | t | [ʈ] |
ޔ
| yaa | y | [j] |
ޕ
| paviyani | p | [p] |
ޖ
| javiyani | j | [dʒ] |
ޗ
| chaviyani | ch | [tʃ] |
ޘ
| ttaa | Arabic-to-Maldivian transliteration characters | |
ޙ
| hhaa | ||
ޚ
| khaa | ||
ޛ
| thaalu | ||
ޜ
| zaa | transliteration | [ʒ] |
ޝ
| sheenu | Arabic-to-Maldivian transliteration characters | |
ޞ
| saadhu | ||
ޟ
| daadhu | ||
ޠ
| to | ||
ޡ
| zo | ||
ޢ
| aïnu | ||
ޣ
| ghaïnu | ||
ޤ
| qaafu | ||
ޥ
| waavu | ||
އަ
| abafili | a | [ə] |
އާ
| aabaafili | aa | [əː] |
އި
| ibifili | i | [i] |
އީ
| eebeefili | ee | [iː] |
އު
| ubufili | u | [u] |
އޫ
| ooboofili | oo | [uː] |
އެ
| ebefili | e | [e] |
އޭ
| eybeyfili | ey | [eː] |
އޮ
| obofili | o | [ɔ] |
އޯ
| oaboafili | oa | [ɔː] |
އް
| sukun | varies | see article |
ޱ
| Ṇaviyani | ṇ | [ɳ] |
For a sample text, see the article on Qaumii salaam, the Maldives' national anthem.
Transliteration of the name[edit]
H. C. P. Bell, the first serious researcher of Maldivian documents, used the spelling Tāna, as the initial consonant is unaspirated. The spelling Thaana was adopted in the mid-1970s, when the government of the Maldives embarked on a short period of Romanization; /t/ was transcribed ⟨th⟩, as ⟨t⟩ was used for the retroflex sound (see Gair & Cain in Daniels & Bright 1996:565).
[edit]
Naviyani ޱ represents the retroflex "n" ([ɳ]) common to many Languages of India. However this letter was abolished from Maldivian official documents around 1953.
The letter's former position in the Maldivian alphabet was the sixteenth, between Gaafu and Seenu, instead of Nyaviyani (ޏ). Former position of Nyaviyani (ޏ) was 22nd. It is still seen in reprints of old books like the Bodu Tartheebu, and it is used by the people of Addu Atoll and Fuvahmulah when writing songs or poetry in their dialects as the sound is still present in their spoken language.
Unicode[edit]
Main article: Thaana (Unicode block)
Thaana was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0.
The Unicode block for Thaana is U+0780–U+07BF:
| Thaana[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+078x | ހ | ށ | ނ | ރ | ބ | ޅ | ކ | އ | ވ | މ | ފ | ދ | ތ | ލ | ގ | ޏ |
| U+079x | ސ | ޑ | ޒ | ޓ | ޔ | ޕ | ޖ | ޗ | ޘ | ޙ | ޚ | ޛ | ޜ | ޝ | ޞ | ޟ |
| U+07Ax | ޠ | ޡ | ޢ | ޣ | ޤ | ޥ | ަ | ާ | ި | ީ | ު | ޫ | ެ | ޭ | ޮ | ޯ |
| U+07Bx | ް | ޱ | ||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
References[edit]
- ^ Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. ISBN 84-7254-801-5
- ^ Clarence Maloney; People of the Maldive Islands
- Bell, H. C. P. The Maldive islands. Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy. Reprint 1940 edn. Male' 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 edition New Delhi 1998.
- Divehi Bahuge Qawaaaid. Vols 1 to 5. Ministry of Education. Male' 1978.
- Divehīnge Tarika. Divehīnge Bas. Divehibahāi Tārikhah Khidumaykurā Qaumī Majlis. Male’ 2000.
- Gair, James W. & Cain, Bruce D. (1996), "Divehi Writing" in Peter T. Daniels & William Bright, ed., The World's Writing Systems, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 564–568. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.
- Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. ISBN 84-7254-801-5
- Geiger, Wilhelm. Maldivian Linguistic Studies. Reprint 1919 edn. Novelty Press. Male’ 1986.
- Ager, Simon. "Thaana (Maldivian) script". Omniglot, writing systems & languages of the world. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
External links[edit]
- http://www.omniglot.com/writing/thaana.htm
- A brief description of Thaana is available at this website
- The Unicode 5.0 Standard: 8.4 Thaana
- Unicode Character Code Charts: Thaana
- GNU FreeFont Unicode font family with Thaana range in its serif face.
