>Glennznl at 18:43, 30 April 2021

2021-04-30T18:43:34Z

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{{Infobox writing system
|name = Dhives Akuru
|altname = {{script|Diak|𑤞𑥂𑤧𑤭𑥂𑤦𑤕𑤱𑤕𑤱}}
|type = [[Abugida]]
|time =
|languages = [[Maldivian language|Maldivian]]
|fam1 = [[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet]]
|fam2 = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
|fam3 = [[Aramaic alphabet]]
|fam4 = [[Brāhmī script|Brāhmī]]
|fam5 = [[Tamil-Brahmi]]
|fam6 = [[Pallava script]]
|fam7 = [[Grantha script]]
|fam8 = [[Maldivian writing systems|Evēla Akuru]]
|sisters = [[Malayalam script|Malayalam]], [[Tigalari script|Tigalari]], [[Saurashtra script|Saurashtra]]
|sample = [[File:Dives title.png|250px]]
|iso15924 = Diak
|unicode = {{ublist |class=nowrap |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U11900.pdf U+11900–U+1195F] {{smaller|Dives Akuru}}}}
}}
{{brahmic}}
{{Expert needed|Maldives|talk=HCP Bell vs. Bodufenvalhuge Sidi|date=July 2012}}
{{Main|Maldivian writing systems}}

[[Image:Div ak02.PNG|thumb|The last version of the Maldivian script used after the conversion of people to Islam around the 1700s.]]
[[Image:Standard indic table8.PNG|thumb|Standard Indic order. This table is provided as a reference for the position of the letters on the table.]]

'''Dhives Akuru''' or '''Divehi Akuru''' (island letters), is a script formerly used to write the [[Maldivian language]]. This script was called '''Dives Akuru''' by [[H. C. P. Bell]] who studied Maldive [[epigraphy]] when he retired from the British government service in Colombo and wrote an extensive monograph on the archaeology, history and epigraphy of the Maldive islands.

==History==
The Dhives Akuru developed from the [[Grantha script]]. The early form of this script was [[Dīvī Grantha]], which Bell called [[Maldivian writing systems|Evēla Akuru]] (ancient letters) to distinguish it from the more recent variants of the same script. The ancient form (Evẽla) can be seen in the [[loamaafaanu]] (copper plates) of the 12th and 13th centuries and in inscriptions on coral stone (hirigaa) dating back to the Maldive Buddhist period.
Like [[Sinhala script]] and most of the native scripts of [[India]] (but not [[Thaana]]), Dhives Akuru descended ultimately from the [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] script and thus was written from left to right.

Dhives Akuru was still used in some atolls in the South Maldives as the main script around 70 years ago. Since then its use has been limited to scholars and hobbyists. It can still be found on gravestones and some monuments, including the stone base of the pillars supporting the main structure of the ancient [[Malé Friday Mosque|Friday mosque]] in Malé. Bell obtained an astrology book written in Dhives Akuru in [[Addu Atoll]], in the south of the Maldives, during one of his trips. This book is now kept in the [[National Archives of Sri Lanka]] in Colombo.

[[Bodufenvalhuge Sidi]], an eminent Maldivian scholar, wrote a book called ''Divehi Akuru'' in 1959, prompted by then Prime Minister [[Ibrahim Nasir]], in order to clarify Bell's errors. However, Maldivian cultural associations have not paid much attention to Sidi's work and keep perpetuating those errors.

==Unicode==
{{Main|Dives Akuru (Unicode block)}}
The Dhives Akuru script was added to [[Unicode]] version 13.0 in March 2020, with 72 characters located in the Dives Akuru block (U+11900–U+1195F):<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode13.0.0/|title=Unicode 13.0.0|website=unicode.org|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref>
{{Unicode chart Dives Akuru}}

==References==

{| align="center"
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*Bell, H.C.P. Excerpta Maldiviana. Reprint 1922-1935 edn. New Delhi 1998.
*Bell, H.C.P. The Maldive islands. Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy. Reprint 1940 edn. Male' 1986.
*Bodufenvahuge Sidi. Divehi Akuru; Evvana Bai. Male' 1958.
*Divehi Bahuge Qawaaaid. Vols 1 to 5. Ministry of Education. Male' 1978.
*Divehīnge Tarika. Divehīnge Bas. Divehibahāi Tārikhah Khidumaykurā Qaumī Majlis. Male’ 2000.
*[[Wilhelm Geiger|Geiger, Wilhelm]]. Maldivian Linguistic Studies. Reprint 1919 edn. Novelty Press. Male’ 1986.
*Gunasena, Bandusekara. The Evolution of the Sinhalese Script. Godage Poth Mendura. Colombo 1999.
*[[Xavier Romero-Frias|Romero-Frias, Xavier]]. The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999.
*Sivaramamurti, C. Indian Epigraphy and South Indian Scripts. Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum. Chennai 1999.
* <span dir="rtl">السّيّد ބޮޑު ފެންވަޅުގޭ ސީދީ. "ދިވެހި އަކުރު -- އެއްވަނަ ބައި."</span> (Assidi Bodu Fenvalhugey Seedee. Dhivehi akuru—e`vana ba`i = Dhivehi akuru—volume one). Primary title (not standardized by [[Unicode]])

==Footnotes==

{{reflist}}

==See also==
* [[Maldivian language]]
* [[Sinhala script]]
* [[Thaana|Thaana script]]
* [[History of the Maldives]]

{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Maldivian scripts]]
[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]

Dhives Akuru - Revision history

>Glennznl at 18:43, 30 April 2021