The phonemic inventory of Maldivian (Dhivehi) consists of 29 consonants and 10 vowels. Like other modern Indo-Aryan languages the Maldivian phonemic inventory shows an opposition of long and short vowels, of dental and retroflex consonants as well as single and geminate consonants.
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
short | long | short | long | short | long | |
Close | i | iː | u | uː | ||
Mid | e | eː | o | oː | ||
Open | (æː) | a | aː |
Labial |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ( ɲ)* | |||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t̪ | ʈ | t͡ʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d̪ | ɖ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd̪ | ᶯɖ | ᵑɡ | |||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s̪ | ʂ | ʃ | h | |
voiced | z | ||||||
Approximant | ʋ | l̪ | ɭ | j | |||
Tap | ɽ |
Dental and retroflex stops are contrastive in Maldivian. For example: maḍun means ‘quietly’ madun means ‘seldom’. The segments /t/ and /d/ are articulated just behind the front teeth. The Maldivian segments /ʈ/, /ɖ/, /ʂ/, and /ɭ/ are not truly retroflex, but apical, produced at the very rear part of the alveolar ridge.
Maldivian has the prenasalized stops /ᵐb/, /ⁿd/, /ᶯɖ/, and /ᵑɡ/. These segments occur only intervocalically: /haⁿdu/ ('moon') /haᶯɖuː/ ('uncooked rice') and /aᵑɡa/ ('mouth'). Maldivian and Sinhalese are the only Indo-Aryan languages that have prenasalized stops.
The influence of other languages has played a great role in Maldivian phonology. For example, the phoneme /z/ comes entirely from foreign influence:[ citation needed] /ɡaːziː/ ('judge') is from Persian, /maːziː/ ('past') is from Urdu.
The phoneme /p/ also occurs only in borrowed words in Modern Standard Maldivian: /ripoːtu/ ('report'). At one point, Maldivian did not have the phoneme /f/, and /p/ occurred in the language without contrastive aspiration. Some time in the 17th century, word initial and intervocalic /p/ changed to /f/. Historical documents from the 11th century, for example, show 'five' rendered as /pas̪/ whereas today it is pronounced /fas̪/.
In standard Maldivian when the phoneme /s/ occurs in the final position of a word it changes to [h] intervocalically when inflected. For example, /bas̪/ ('word' or 'language') becomes /baheʔ/ ('a word' or 'a language') and /mas/ ('fish') becomes /maheʔ/ ('a fish'). /s/ and /h/ still contrastive, though: initially /hiᵑɡaː/ ('operating') and /siŋɡaː/ ('lion') and intervocalically /aharu/ ('year') and /asaru/ ('effect').
/ʂ/ is peculiar to Dhivehi among Indo-Aryan languages. In some dialects, it is pronounced as a [ɽ̊] or [ɽ̊͜r̊]. [2] The /ʂ/ is related historically and allophonically to /ʈ/ (but not to Sanskrit /ʂ/ or /ɕ/). Sometime after the 12th century, the intervocalic /ʈ/ became [ʂ] /raʈu/ 'island' (12th c.), [raʂu] 'island'. The /ʈ/ is retained in geminate clusters like /feʂuni:/ 'started', /faʈʈaifi/ 'has caused to start'. The contrast between /ʂ/ and /ʈ/ was made through loan words like /koʂani:/ 'cutting', /koʈari/ 'room'. [3]
Modern Standard Maldivian has borrowed many phonemes from Arabic. These phonemes are used exclusively in loan words from Arabic, for example, the phoneme /x/ in words such as /xaːdim/ ('male servant'). However, most Maldivians do not pronounce the sounds exactly. The following table shows the phonemes that have been borrowed from Arabic (and /ʒ/ from Persian) with their transliteration into Tāna, and their original and native pronunciation.
Tāna | Arabic | SAMT |
IPA Original / Dhivehi [4] |
---|---|---|---|
ޙ | ح | ḥ | [ ħ] / [ h] |
ޚ | خ | x | [ x] / [ h] |
ޜ | ژ | ʒ | [ ʒ] / [ ʒ] ( Persian letter) |
ޢ | ع | ‘ | [ ʕ] / [ ʔ] |
ޣ | غ | ġ | [ ɣ] / [ g] or [ ʔ] |
ޥ | و | w | [ w] / [ ʋ] |
ޛ | ذ | ź | [ ð] / [ z̺] |
ޠ | ط | ţ | [ tˤ] / [ t̪] |
ޡ | ظ | ẓ | [ ðˤ] / [ l] or [ z̺] |
ޘ | ث | ṡ | [ θ] / [ s̺] |
ޤ | ق | q | [ q] / [ g] |
ޞ | ص | ş | [ sˤ] / [ s̺] |
ޟ | ض | ḑ | [ dˤ] / [ l] |
ޝ | ش | ś | [ ʃ] / [ ʃ] or [ s̺] |
Native Maldivian words do not allow initial consonant clusters; the syllable structure is (C)V(C) (i.e. one vowel with the option of a consonant in the onset and/or coda). This affects the introduction of loanwords, such as /ʔis.kuːl/ from English school.
The phonemic inventory of Maldivian (Dhivehi) consists of 29 consonants and 10 vowels. Like other modern Indo-Aryan languages the Maldivian phonemic inventory shows an opposition of long and short vowels, of dental and retroflex consonants as well as single and geminate consonants.
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
short | long | short | long | short | long | |
Close | i | iː | u | uː | ||
Mid | e | eː | o | oː | ||
Open | (æː) | a | aː |
Labial |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ( ɲ)* | |||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t̪ | ʈ | t͡ʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d̪ | ɖ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd̪ | ᶯɖ | ᵑɡ | |||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s̪ | ʂ | ʃ | h | |
voiced | z | ||||||
Approximant | ʋ | l̪ | ɭ | j | |||
Tap | ɽ |
Dental and retroflex stops are contrastive in Maldivian. For example: maḍun means ‘quietly’ madun means ‘seldom’. The segments /t/ and /d/ are articulated just behind the front teeth. The Maldivian segments /ʈ/, /ɖ/, /ʂ/, and /ɭ/ are not truly retroflex, but apical, produced at the very rear part of the alveolar ridge.
Maldivian has the prenasalized stops /ᵐb/, /ⁿd/, /ᶯɖ/, and /ᵑɡ/. These segments occur only intervocalically: /haⁿdu/ ('moon') /haᶯɖuː/ ('uncooked rice') and /aᵑɡa/ ('mouth'). Maldivian and Sinhalese are the only Indo-Aryan languages that have prenasalized stops.
The influence of other languages has played a great role in Maldivian phonology. For example, the phoneme /z/ comes entirely from foreign influence:[ citation needed] /ɡaːziː/ ('judge') is from Persian, /maːziː/ ('past') is from Urdu.
The phoneme /p/ also occurs only in borrowed words in Modern Standard Maldivian: /ripoːtu/ ('report'). At one point, Maldivian did not have the phoneme /f/, and /p/ occurred in the language without contrastive aspiration. Some time in the 17th century, word initial and intervocalic /p/ changed to /f/. Historical documents from the 11th century, for example, show 'five' rendered as /pas̪/ whereas today it is pronounced /fas̪/.
In standard Maldivian when the phoneme /s/ occurs in the final position of a word it changes to [h] intervocalically when inflected. For example, /bas̪/ ('word' or 'language') becomes /baheʔ/ ('a word' or 'a language') and /mas/ ('fish') becomes /maheʔ/ ('a fish'). /s/ and /h/ still contrastive, though: initially /hiᵑɡaː/ ('operating') and /siŋɡaː/ ('lion') and intervocalically /aharu/ ('year') and /asaru/ ('effect').
/ʂ/ is peculiar to Dhivehi among Indo-Aryan languages. In some dialects, it is pronounced as a [ɽ̊] or [ɽ̊͜r̊]. [2] The /ʂ/ is related historically and allophonically to /ʈ/ (but not to Sanskrit /ʂ/ or /ɕ/). Sometime after the 12th century, the intervocalic /ʈ/ became [ʂ] /raʈu/ 'island' (12th c.), [raʂu] 'island'. The /ʈ/ is retained in geminate clusters like /feʂuni:/ 'started', /faʈʈaifi/ 'has caused to start'. The contrast between /ʂ/ and /ʈ/ was made through loan words like /koʂani:/ 'cutting', /koʈari/ 'room'. [3]
Modern Standard Maldivian has borrowed many phonemes from Arabic. These phonemes are used exclusively in loan words from Arabic, for example, the phoneme /x/ in words such as /xaːdim/ ('male servant'). However, most Maldivians do not pronounce the sounds exactly. The following table shows the phonemes that have been borrowed from Arabic (and /ʒ/ from Persian) with their transliteration into Tāna, and their original and native pronunciation.
Tāna | Arabic | SAMT |
IPA Original / Dhivehi [4] |
---|---|---|---|
ޙ | ح | ḥ | [ ħ] / [ h] |
ޚ | خ | x | [ x] / [ h] |
ޜ | ژ | ʒ | [ ʒ] / [ ʒ] ( Persian letter) |
ޢ | ع | ‘ | [ ʕ] / [ ʔ] |
ޣ | غ | ġ | [ ɣ] / [ g] or [ ʔ] |
ޥ | و | w | [ w] / [ ʋ] |
ޛ | ذ | ź | [ ð] / [ z̺] |
ޠ | ط | ţ | [ tˤ] / [ t̪] |
ޡ | ظ | ẓ | [ ðˤ] / [ l] or [ z̺] |
ޘ | ث | ṡ | [ θ] / [ s̺] |
ޤ | ق | q | [ q] / [ g] |
ޞ | ص | ş | [ sˤ] / [ s̺] |
ޟ | ض | ḑ | [ dˤ] / [ l] |
ޝ | ش | ś | [ ʃ] / [ ʃ] or [ s̺] |
Native Maldivian words do not allow initial consonant clusters; the syllable structure is (C)V(C) (i.e. one vowel with the option of a consonant in the onset and/or coda). This affects the introduction of loanwords, such as /ʔis.kuːl/ from English school.