The Maldivian language, known as Dhivehi, spoken by the people of the Maldives, is notably influenced by the Arabic language. More than 25% of its vocabulary is derived from Arabic. Poets and writers, both in the past and present, frequently use Arabic words in their literary works, considering it as enhancing the beauty, elegance, and refinement of their expressions. Even the rules of the Maldivian language, since its inception, have been significantly influenced by Arabic grammatical terms, both in pronunciation and meaning. For example, words such as “نفي” (nafi), “تشديد” (tashdid), “سكون” (sukun), “مثال” (mithal), “بدل” (badal), “معنى” (ma’na), “خلاف” (khilaf), “صحّ” (sahh), “مصدر” (masdar), “مستقبل” (mustaqbal), “فعل” (fi’l), “سؤال” (su’al), “جواب” (jawab), therefore, such Arabic words with grammatical meanings are abundant in Dhivehi grammar books, not few in number.
And you might be surprised to learn that Arabic words were written in Maldivian scripts using Arabic letters themselves, not in the local Dhivehi script. This meant that Maldivian children, especially beginners, had to learn and grasp both Arabic and Dhivehi scripts simultaneously.
The renowned Maldivian writer and intellectual, the Honorable Chief Justice of the Maldives, His Eminence Sheikh Mohammed Jameel (may Allah have mercy on him), likened the presence of Arabic vocabulary amidst the Maldivian letters to bright stars adorning the page of the blue sky.
The first president of the Republic of Maldives, His Excellency the late President Mohamed Amin, stated in this regard:
“When there is a need to use a foreign word in the Dhivehi language or borrow it from another language, it is necessary to prefer the Arabic word that conveys the intended meaning over other non-Arabic words from foreign languages. It is not appropriate to prioritize a word from another language unless there is no Arabic word that expresses the desired meaning. If you prefer another language over Arabic in such a case, it is an offense against the Dhivehi language, as the Arabic language is the closest language to the nature of the Dhivehi language in all linguistic aspects.”
The Dhivehi language used to be written from left to right, similar to neighboring languages derived from Sanskrit, such as ancient Indian languages. However, after the introduction of Islam in the Maldives and the familiarity with the Arabic language, it started to be written from right to left, resembling and being influenced by the Arabic language. Even the first nine letters of its alphabet were taken from Arabic numerical symbols.
Maldivian authors preferred to title their books with Arabic names, such as “Sullam al-Areeb fi Qawaid Lughat al-Maladheeb,” “Taqweem al-Lisan,” “Ta’leem al-Deen,” “Al-Iqadh,” and “Rawaya Na’man wa Maryam,” etc.
It is worth noting that the first detailed historical record in the Maldives was written after the introduction of Islam. The author, Judge Hassan Taj al-Din, chose to write his book “Tarikh Dhiybat al-Mahal” in the Arabic language.
As for the meters of Maldivian poetry, they are mostly derived from the well-known Khalilian meters in the science of prosody. For example, I can mention a poem by Judge Hussain Salahuddin (may he rest in peace) titled “Adhabu verikan / nethunu meehaa /
And it belongs to the abundant meter…
The author of these lines, along with other colleagues, participated in the preparation of a book on the meters of Maldivian poetry while being a member of the Maldivian Linguistic Society and a special assistant at the National Language and History Center. This was done under the directive of the late Abdullah Hameed (may he rest in peace), who was the head of the center at that time. Through this study, it was discovered that most of the poetic meters in the Maldivian language are derived from Arabic prosody. These meters, which constitute the majority of poetic meters, were given Maldivian names that convey the same Arabic meanings. For example, the long meter was named “dhigu vazan,” and the short meter was named “lui vazan,” and so on.
(Note: I write this short article while in social isolation and away from the books in the new house I moved to just a day before the general lockdown. Therefore, I relied on my limited memory in its scientific content. I hope to follow it with another installment if circumstances allow, and I do not forget to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my brother, Professor Hameed Abubakr Al-Azhari, who favored me with the words of the late President Mohamed Amin on the subject.)
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The Letters and Vowels:
There are languages that distinguish themselves by having independent vowel marks, such as the Arabic language, while others lack this linguistic feature. Instead, they regulate vowels with letters and not independent marks. These vowels are called “vowels,” which are sound-producing letters, as seen in the English language, for example. Languages that feature independent vowel marks, like Arabic and Hebrew, have well-defined rules governing their words. They are inflectional languages, allowing flexibility in how words are written, as they have precise rules and regulations that govern the use of vowels.
In contrast, non-inflectional languages regulate pronunciation based on auditory cues from speakers of the language, as is the case with many other languages.
As for the Arabic language, being a Semitic language (which I refer to here as non-inflectional languages), it requires writing words accurately; otherwise, they won’t be pronounced correctly.
Regarding the number of letters in the Dhivehi language, it consists of twenty-four alphabetical letters, similar to the Arabic language. There are also eleven diacritic marks, which are separate vowel sounds placed either below or above the alphabetical letters to indicate the pronunciation.
So, if you write a Dhivehi word without diacritics, like ު, for example, stripping it of its diacritics would result in an inaccurate pronunciation. Without diacritics, it could be pronounced as ހިރު or ހޯރަ, among other possibilities. In contrast, inflectional languages like Arabic follow grammatical rules, where the subject is nominative, the object is accusative, etc. This ensures that even without diacritics, the intended meaning of the word can be understood, thanks to the grammatical structure applied in speech.
And it’s worth mentioning that Dhivehi also adopted its diacritics from Arabic, considering the additional diacritics present in Dhivehi. For instance, the diacritics of damma, fatha, kasra, and sukun were taken directly from Arabic, maintaining the same Arabic pronunciation. Moreover, there are additional diacritics in Dhivehi, like ހީ, ހާ, ހޫ, where ހޫ has two dammas, ހީ has two kasras, and ހާ has two fathas. It’s noteworthy that even these additional diacritics are derived from Arabic, as evident in the mentioned symbols. Thus, Dhivehi has become one of the languages most influenced by Arabic, without a doubt or debate.
So, the Dhivehi language has acquired an important linguistic advantage thanks to Arabic, not found in its counterparts among the Indo-Aryan languages. This advantage is the ease of pronouncing its words correctly if you master the pronunciation of its letters and diacritics, just like Arabic. In contrast, some Indo-Aryan languages cannot be pronounced correctly unless you live among their speakers and learn their pronunciation from them. The Dhivehi dialect has its own unique diacritics and forms distinct from its alphabetical letters.
Here are the samples for the Dhivehi letters and diacritics you provided:
Letters: ހ ށ ނ ރ ބ ޅ ކ އ ވ މ ފ ދ ތ ލ ގ ޏ ސ ޑ ޒ ޓ ޔ ޕ ޖ ޗ
Diacritics: ަ ާ ި ީ ު ޫ ޮ ޯ
It’s interesting to note that even Urdu, which is highly influenced by Arabic, does not have this feature. It is said that the current letters, referred to as “Taanah,” entered the Maldives during the reign of Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu the Great in the 16th century after the liberation of the Maldives from the Portuguese.
