Maldivian language

Maldivian (ދިވެހި, Divehi, ), also known by its endonymDivehi, sometimes spelled as Dhivehi is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, primarily spoken by the Maldivian people native to the South Asianarchipelagic state of the Maldives; as well as the neighbouring Minicoy Island within Lakshadweep, a union territory of India.

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. Maldivian is written in Thaana script.

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.

Maldivian is a descendant of Elu Prakrit and is closely related to Sinhala, but not mutually intelligible with it. Many languages have influenced the development of Maldivian through the ages. They include Malayalam, Arabic, Hindustani, 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 colonisation of the Southern Hemisphere, it was the southernmost Indo-European language.