View source for Thaana

{{Short description|Writing system of the Maldivian language}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name        = Thaana
| native_name = ތާނަ
| sample      = Dhivehiscript.svg
| imagesize   = 100px
| type        = Abjad/Abugida
| time        = 17th century — present
| typedesc    = <br/>With no inherent vowel
| languages   = [[Maldivian language]]
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic script]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
| fam4        = [[Aramaic alphabet]]
| fam5        = [[Nabataean script]]
| fam6        = Partially from [[Arabic Alphabet]]  and [[Hindu-Arabic numerals ]]
| iso15924    = Thaa
| unicode     = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0780.pdf U+0780–U+07BF]
}}
{{Contains special characters}}

'''Thaana''', '''Tãna''', '''Taana''' or '''Tāna''' (&thinsp;{{big|{{lang|dv|ތާނަ}}}} ) is the present writing system of the [[Maldivian language]] spoken in the [[Maldives]]. Thaana has characteristics of both an [[abugida]] (diacritics, [[virama|vowel-killer strokes]]) and a true [[alphabet]] (all vowels are written), with consonants derived from indigenous and Arabic numerals, and vowels derived from the vowel diacritics of the [[Arabic script|Arabic abjad]]. Maldivian orthography in Thaana is largely [[phonemic orthography|phonemic]].

==Name==
[[H. C. P. Bell]], the first serious researcher of Maldivian documents,{{cn|date=December 2023}} 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 {{angle bracket|th}}, as {{angle bracket|t}} was used for the [[voiceless retroflex plosive]] {{IPAblink|ʈ}}.{{r|Gair|page=565}}

==History==
[[File:MV-moschee-hinweis.jpg|thumb|Sign at a mosque in [[Malé]]: the Thaana script reads ''Faivānā, būṭāeku erun manā!''.]]
The Thaana script first appeared in a Maldivian inscription towards the beginning of the 17th century in a crude initial form known as Gabulhi ('incomplete') Thaana which was written ''[[Scriptio continua|scripta continua]]''. This early script slowly developed, its characters becoming more graceful and oblique, and adding spaces 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 (Shaviyani Atoll)|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 [[Islamic calendar|AH]] (AD 1599) and 1020 AH (AD 1611) when the roof of the building was built and then renewed during the reigns of Ibrahim Kalaafaan (Sultan Ibrahim III) and Hussain Faamuladeyri Kilege (Sultan Hussain II) respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |title=dhivehi thaareekhah au alikameh |publisher=Dhivehi bahaai Thaareekhah Khidhumaiy kuraa Qaumee Marukazu |year=1990 |isbn=9991571035 |location=Male |language=dv}}</ref>

The origins of Thaana are unique among the world's writing systems: The first nine letters (''h ṣ n r b ḷ k ʔ v'') are derived from the Arabic numerals, whereas the next nine (''m f d t l g ṇ s ḍ'') were the local Indic numerals. (See [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system|Hindu–Arabic numerals]].) The remaining letters for loanwords (''z ṭ y p j c ñ'') and Arabic transliteration (''h̤ ḵ ž ʕ ġ w ẕ t̤ ẓ s̱ q s̤ ż ś'') are derived from phonetically similar native consonants by means of diacritics (like [[nuqta]]), with the exception of ''yaa'', which is of unknown origin. This means that Thaana is one of the few writing systems not derived graphically from the [[Middle Bronze Age alphabets|original Semitic alphabet]]—unless the Indic numerals were (see [[Brahmi numeral]]s). (The [[Ogham]] script used in 1st millennium AD Ireland is another example, which also has some relation to numbers, since most of its letters are differentiated from others in a way similar to tally marks.)

The order of the Thaana alphabet (''ha, shaviyani, noonu, raa, baa, etc.'') does not 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 (''fanḍita'') 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 Thaana was gradually adopted for everyday use.<ref>Xavier Romero-Frias, ''The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom''. {{ISBN|84-7254-801-5}}</ref>

Thaana nearly disappeared for a brief period in recent history. Towards the mid-1970s, during President [[Ibrahim Nasir]]'s reign, [[Telegraphy|Telex]] machines were introduced by the Maldivian government in the local administration. The new telex equipment was viewed as a great progress, but Thaana was deemed to be an obstacle because messages on the [[Teleprinter|telex machines]] could only be written in the [[Latin script]]. Following this, a rough [[Malé Latin|Latin transliteration]] for Maldivian was officially approved by the Maldivian government in 1976 and was quickly implemented by the administration. Booklets were printed and dispatched to all Atoll and Island Offices, as well as schools and merchant liners.

The Thaana script was reinstated by President [[Maumoon Abdul Gayoom]] shortly after he took power in 1978, although the Latin transcription of 1976 continues to be widely used.

==Characteristics==
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 is ''nūnu'' which, when written without a diacritic, indicates [[prenasalized stop|prenasalization]] of a following [[plosive consonant|stop]].

For a sample text, see the article on [[Qaumee salaam]], the Maldives' national anthem.

Even though it is not part of the alphabet, Arabic ligature Allah ﷲ is used for writing names in Thaana, for example {{lang|dv|އަބްދުﷲ}} (Abdullah). "Allah" is never written in thaana, with the ligature ﷲ used.

===Consonants===
The letter ''alifu'' (އ) is used for three different purposes other than acting as a normal consonant: it can act as a carrier for a vowel in the second part of a [[diphthong]] (if there is a preceding consonant with a vowel); when it carries a ''[[sukun]]'', it indicates [[gemination]] (lengthening) of the following consonant (even if the consonant is at the beginning of another word); and if ''alifu''+''sukun'' occurs at the end of a word, it indicates that the word ends in a [[glottal stop]]. Gemination of [[nasal consonant]]s, however, is indicated by ''nūnu''+''sukun'' preceding the nasal to be geminated. Originally, each letter had the name "consonant+''a''+''viyani''". The suffix -''viyani'' originated from the word ''viyana'' which came from [[Sanskrit]] [[wiktionary:व्यञ्जन#Sanskrit|व्यञ्जन ''vyáñjana'']]. For example, ''haa'' was originally called ''haviyani''.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Pandey |first=Anshuman |date=2018-01-23 |title=Proposal to encode Dives Akuru in Unicode |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4q4356c9 |url-status=live |publisher =Department of Linguistics, UC Berkeley |language=en |pages=108–109 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730135548/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4q4356c9 |archive-date=2021-07-30 |access-date=2021-07-30}}</ref> The names of consonants which had equivalent sounds in [[Arabic]] were changed to the Arabic names for the sounds (excepting ''gaafu'', which is a [[Persian language|Persian]] name).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Geiger |first=Wilhelm |date=1919 |title=Máldivian linguistic studies |url=https://archive.org/details/jornalofceylonbr27wilh |journal=Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=XXVII |issue=Extra}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable letters-table"
|+Consonants
|-
! scope=row | Derived from{{br}}[[Eastern_Arabic_numerals|Eastern Arabic{{br}}digits 1-9]]
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ހ|top=haa|iso=h| ipa=[{{IPAplink|h}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ށ|top=[[Shaviyani (letter)|shaviyani]]|iso=ṣ|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʂ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ނ|top=noonu|iso=n| ipa=[{{IPAplink|n}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ރ|top=raa|iso=r| ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɾ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ބ|top=baa|iso=b| ipa=[{{IPAplink|b}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ޅ|top=lhaviyani|iso=ḷ|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɭ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ކ|top=kaafu|iso=k|ipa=[{{IPAplink|k}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=އ|top=alifu|iso= |ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʔ}}]|note= {{noteTag|name=alif|group=consonants|A null-consonant used as a carrier for a vowel.}}}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|ch=ވ|top=vaavu|iso=v|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʋ}}]}}
|-
! scope=row | Derived from{{br}}[[Dhives_Akuru#Numerals|Dhives akuru{{br}}digits 1-9]]
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=m|ch=މ|top=meemu|ipa=[{{IPAplink|m}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=f|ch=ފ|top=faafu|f|ipa=[{{IPAplink|f}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=d|ch=ދ|top=dhaalu|ipa=[{{IPAplink|d̪}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=t|ch=ތ|top=thaa|ipa=[{{IPAplink|t̪}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=l|ch=ލ|top=laamu|ipa=[{{IPAplink|l}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=g|ch=ގ|top=gaafu|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɡ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ṇ|ch=ޱ|top=ṇaviyani|note={{noteTag|name=gnaviyani|group=consonants}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɳ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=s|ch=ސ|top=seenu|ipa=[{{IPAplink|s̺}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ḍ|ch=ޑ|top=daviyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɖ}}]}}
|-
! Derived from{{br}}other Thaana letters
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=z|ch=ޒ|top=zaviyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|z̺}}]|note=from {{Script|Thaa|ރ}}}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ṭ|ch=ޓ|top=taviyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʈ}}]|note=from {{Script|Thaa|ބ}}}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=y|ch=ޔ|top=yaa|ipa=[{{IPAplink|j}}]|note=possibly{{br}}from {{Script|Thaa|ށ}}}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=p|ch=ޕ|top=paviyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|p}}]|note=from {{Script|Thaa|ފ}}}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=j|ch=ޖ|top=javiyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|dʒ}}]|note=from {{Script|Thaa|ދ}}}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=c|ch=ޗ|top=chaviyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|tʃ}}]|note=from {{Script|Thaa|ތ}}}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ñ|ch=ޏ|top=gnaviyani|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɲ}}]|note=from {{Script|Thaa|ނ}}{{br}}{{noteTag|name=gnaviyani|group=consonants|This letter order is slightly anachronistic. The letter {{angbr|{{Script|Thaa|ޱ}}}}, ṇaviyani, was abolished from Maldivian official documents around 1953 and it was replaced with {{angbr|{{Script|Thaa|ޏ}}}}, gnaviyani, making gnaviyani the sixteenth letter of the alphabet.}}}}
|}
{{noteFoot|group=consonants}}

{| class="wikitable"
! Digit !! 1  !! 2  !! 3  !! 4  !! 5  !! 6  !! 7  !! 8  !! 9
|-
| Eastern Arabic || ١  || ٢  || ٣  || ٤۴  || ٥۵  || ٦۶  || ٧  || ٨  || ٩
|-
| Thaana || ހ  || ށޔ  || ނޏ  || ރޒ  || ބޓ  || ޅ  || ކ  || އ  || ވ
|-
| Dhives Akuru || 𑥑  || 𑥒  || 𑥓  || 𑥔  || 𑥕  || 𑥖  || 𑥗  || 𑥘  || 𑥙
|-
| Thaana || މ || ފޕ  || ދޖ  || ތޗ  || ލ  || ގ  || ޱ  || ސ  || ޑ
|}

====''Naviyani''====
Naviyani (ޱ) represents the [[voiced retroflex nasal]] "ṇ" ({{IPA|[ɳ]}}) common to many [[Languages of Indian subcontinent|Indic languages]]. 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 Gnaviyani (ޏ). The former position of Gnaviyani (ޏ) was 22nd. It is still seen in reprints of old books like the ''Bodu Tarutheebu,'' 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 dialects.

====Additional letters====
These additional letters ({{lang|dv|thikijehi thaana}}) were added to the Thaana alphabet by adding a [[Nuqta|{{transliteration|dv|nukuthaa}}]] (dot) to existing letters, to allow for transliteration of Arabic loanwords (except for ޜ že), as previously Arabic loanwords were written using the Arabic script. Their usage is inconsistent, and becoming less frequent as the spelling changes to reflect pronunciation by Maldivians, rather than the original Arabic pronunciation, as the words get absorbed into the Maldivian language.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ ''Thikijehi thaana''
|-
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޙ|top=h̤ā, {{Script|Arab|ح}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ħ}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޚ|top=k͟hā, {{Script|Arab|خ}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|x}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޜ|top=že, {{Script|fa-Arab|ژ}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʒ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޢ|top=‘ainu, {{Script|Arab|ع}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʕ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޣ|top=ġainu, {{Script|Arab|غ}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ɣ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޥ|top=wāvu, {{Script|Arab|و}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|w}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޛ|top=ẕālu, {{Script|Arab|ذ}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ð}}]}}
|-
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޠ|top=t̤ā, {{Script|Arab|ط}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|tˤ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޡ|top=ẓā, {{Script|Arab|ظ}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ðˤ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޘ|top=s̱ā, {{Script|Arab|ث}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|θ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޤ|top=qāfu, {{Script|Arab|ق}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|q}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޞ|top=s̤ādu, {{Script|Arab|ص}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|sˤ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޟ|top=żādu, {{Script|Arab|ض}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|dˤ}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Diak|ch=ޝ|top=śīnu, {{Script|Arab|ش}}|ipa=[{{IPAplink|ʃ}}]}}
|}

===Vowels===
There are five vowel strokes or diacritical signs ({{langx|dv|ފިލި|fili}}) for short vowels (a, i, u, e, o). The first three are derived from the Arabic [[harakat|vowel signs]], ''fatḥah, kasrah'' and ''ḍammah''. The ''ebefili'' looks similar to and is most likely modelled on the Urdu [[baṛī ye]]. Long vowels (aa, ee, oo, ey and oa) are denoted by double ''fili'', with the exception of oa, which is a modification of the short ''obofili''.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Vowels''' displayed with an ''alifu'' as a carrier
|-
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=a|ch=އަ|top=abafili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|a}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ā|ch=އާ|top=ābāfili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|aː}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=i|ch=އި|top=ibifili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|i}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ī|ch=އީ|top=ībīfili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|iː}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=u|ch=އު|top=ubufili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|u}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ū|ch=އޫ|top=ūbūfili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|uː}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=e|ch=އެ|top=ebefili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|e}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ē|ch=އޭ|top=ēbēfili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|eː}}]}} 
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=o|ch=އޮ|top=obofili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|o}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=ō|ch=އޯ|top=ōbōfili 
|ipa=[{{IPAplink|oː}}]}}
|{{letter|l=dv|s=Thaa|iso=|ch=އް|top=sukun}} 
|}

== Unicode ==

{{Main|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&ndash;U+07BF:
{{Unicode chart Thaana}}

== See also ==
*[[Maldivian writing systems]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Gair>{{cite book
|last1 = Gair
|first1 = James W.
|last2 = Cain
|first2 = Bruce D
|year = 1996
|chapter = Divehi Writing
|editor-first1 = Peter T.
|editor-last1 = Daniels
|editor-first2 = William
|editor-last2 = Bright
|title = The World's Writing Systems
|place = New York
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|pages = 564–568
|isbn = 0-19-507993-0
|language = en}}</ref>
}}

== Literature ==
* {{Cite book |last=Bell |first=H. C. P. |title=The Maldive islands: Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy |publisher=Novelty Printers Publishers |year=2002 |isbn=9789991530512 |location=Malé |orig-year=1940}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bell |first=H. C. P. |title=The Maldive Islands: An account of the physical features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade |publisher=Asian Educational services |year=2004 |isbn=81-206-1222-1 |location=New Delhi |oclc=85765246 |orig-year=1883, Frank Luker}}
*Bell, H. C. P. ''Excerpta Maldiviana''. Reprint 1922-1935 edition New Delhi 1998.
*''Divehi Bahuge Qawaaaid''. Vols 1 to 5. Ministry of Education. Malé 1978.
*''Divehīnge Tarika''. ''Divehīnge Bas''. ''Divehibahāi Tārikhah Khidumaykurā Qaumī Majlis''. Malé 2000.
* {{Cite book |last=Geiger |first=Wilhelm |author-link=Wilhelm Geiger |title=Maldivian Linguistic Studies |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1996 |isbn=9788120612013 |location=New Delhi |orig-year=1919}}
* {{Cite book |last=Romero-Frias |first=Xavier |author-link=Xavier Romero-Frias |title=The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom |publisher=Nova Ethnographia Indica |year=2003 |isbn=84-7254-801-5 |edition=3rd rev. |location=Barcelona |oclc=55679148}}
* {{Cite web |last=Ager |first=Simon |title=Thaana (Maldivian) script |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/thaana.htm |access-date=2006-09-12 |website=Omniglot}}
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==External links==
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/thaana.htm Profile] in Omniglot
* A brief description of Thaana is available at [https://web.archive.org/web/20020730030515/http://www.maldivesculture.com/thaana01.html this website]
* [https://dhivehi.mv/tools/latin-thaana/ Latin-Thaana Converter]
* [https://dhivehi.mv/fonts/ Thaana font selection] from Dhivehi.mv
* [https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode5.0.0/ch08.pdf#G20818 The Unicode&nbsp;5.0 Standard: 8.4 Thaana]
* [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0780.pdf Unicode Character Code Charts: Thaana]
* [https://www.gnu.org/software/freefont/ GNU FreeFont] Unicode font family with Thaana range in its serif face.
* [https://www.branah.com/dhivehi Thaana] at Branah

{{list of writing systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tana}}
[[Category:Abugida writing systems]]
[[Category:Maldivian scripts]]
[[Category:Right-to-left writing systems]]
[[Category:Writing systems introduced in the 17th century]]

[[fr:Divehi#Alphabet]]