Thaana vowels

The list below contains all the Dhivehi language vowels.
The letter b is used as an example consonant.

Dhivehi vowels have close English equivalent sounds, and a pronunciation guide (in brackets) has been included when necessary.

The English script spelling for the vowels, shown in the centre column below, was introduced during the mid-1970s in Malé.


Maldives dhivehi thaana vowel list and pronunciation guide


    



When a vowel is pronounced alone, it is written with the special consonant described on the consonants page as a 'silent vowel carrier' and known in Dhivehi as 'alifu'.



The power of alifu is explained here.













A small circle sometimes written above a consonant is often mistaken for a vowel by new thaana readers.
It is another clever indicator, called a 'sukun'.



The power of the sukun is explained here.




home page

consonants

alifu

sukun


top



Copyright © 1999 Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla
All Rights Reserved