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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] |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | |
| Thaana Dhives Akuru until the 19th century | |
| 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 |
.svg) | |
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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.
- ^ a b Maldivian at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Dhivehi". Glottolog 4.3.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b B. D, Cain (2000). Introduction. Dhivehi (Maldivian): A Synchronic and Diachronic Study (Thesis). Cornell Univ. [Ithaca]. p. 1.
