Mahal language

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Mahal
މަހަލް mahal
Spoken in: Minicoy (India); Maldives
Total speakers: 15,000-20,000 (Mahl only)
Language family: Indo-European
 Indo-Iranian
  Indo-Aryan
   Insular Indo-Aryan
    Mahal
Language codes
ISO 639-1: dv
ISO 639-2: div
ISO 639-3: div — Dhivehi
Indic script
 This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

Mahal (މަހަލް) or Mahl, also known locally as Maliku Bas, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the people of Minicoy Island (Maliku), India. It is a dialect of Dhivehi, the official language of Maldives.

Contents

[edit] History

The first written documents in Mahal date from around the 10th century AD.

[edit] Classification

Mahal belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages.

[edit] Geographic distribution

Most speakers of Mahal live in Minicoy island, in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, while a few migrated to Kochi and elsewhere in the state of Kerala. Mahal is also spoken by about 300,000 people in the Republic of Maldives, where it is known as Divehi.

[edit] Official status

Mahal (Divehi) is the official language of Maldives.

[edit] Dialects

According to Sonja Fritz:

"In many respects, the dialects of Divehi represent different diachronial stages in the development of the language. Especially in the field of morphology, the amount of archaich features steadily increase from the north to the south. Within the three southern most atolls (of the Maldives), the dialect of the Addu islands which form the southern tip of the whole archipelago is characterized by the highest degree of archaicity".

Sonja Fritz puts forward this theory based on research into the dialects of Addu and Fua Mulah. She is yet to do research on the dialect of Huvadhu Atoll. And even she has to do more research on both Addu and Fua Mulah dialect. Only then can she determine whether the dialects Fua Mulah and Huvadhu or that of Addu is more archaich. How ever from Male' (Maldives) to the south up to Huvadhu Atoll (Maldives) the amount of archaich features increase but from Huvadhu Atoll the amount of archaich features decrease towards south. And the dialect of Huvadhu is characterized by the highest degree of archaicity.

Fritz also adds:

"Thus the different classes of verb conjugation and nominal inflection are best preserved there, morphological simplifications and, as a consequence increasing from atoll to atoll towards north (in the Maldives)".

Other dialects of Dhivehi are, amongst others, Haddhunmathee bas, Huvadhoo bas, Moloki bas and Addu bas.

[edit] Modern standard

Modern standard Mahal is the standard language used in written Mahal.

[edit] Sound

The sound system of Mahal is similar to that of South Indian languages. Like other Modern Indo-Aryan languages the Mahal phonemic inventory shows an opposition of long and short vowels, of dental and retroflex consonants as well as single and geminate consonants.

[edit] Nominal morphology

The nominal system of Mahal comprises nouns, pronouns, adjectives and numerals as parts of speech.

[edit] Numerals

Mahal uses two numeral systems. Both of them are identical up to 30. After 30, however, one system places the unit numeral stem before the decade (for example: eh-thirees '31' lit. one and thirty) while the other combines the stem of the decade with the unit numeral (for example: thirees-ekeh '31' lit. thirty + one). The latter system also has numerals multiplied by ten for decades 70, 80 and 90.

The decade fas dholhas '60' lit. five twelves, comes from a much older duodecimal or dozen system which has nearly disappeared.

[edit] Verbal morphology

The Mahal verbal system is characterized by a derivational relationship between active, causative and involitive/intransitive verb forms.

[edit] Alphabet

Main article: Mahal writing system

Mahal uses the Thaana alphabet for writing.

[edit] Grammar

Mahal grammar is the same as Dhivehi grammar.

[edit] Vocabulary

The Mahal language contains many loan words from other languages.

[edit] Word origins

The Mahal has borrowed words from Arabic (in particular many religious terms), Portuguese, Urdu, Hindi and more recently, English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). Some examples follow:

  • taareekh - date or history (from Arabic tarikh)
  • zaraafaa - giraffe (from Arabic zarafah)

A lot of English words are commonly used in the spoken language, for example "phone", "note" and "radio".

[edit] Some common phrases

Mahal Phrase Latin Transliteration English Translation
ސުވަސްތީ Suvasthee Welcome
ޝުކުރިއްޔާ Shukuriyyaa Thank you
ނޫން Noon No

[edit] Mahal word box

Mahal Word Latin Transliteration English Translation
ކަނީރު Kaneeru Oleander
ކަންފަތް Kanfaiy Ear
ކަނިފަށް Kanifah Barb
ކަންކުން Kankun Water spinach
ކުޑަ Kuda Umbrella
ކުޑަ Kuda Small Size

[edit] Modern issues

[edit] Information technology issues

[edit] Typography

The Mahal Unit Press at Minicoy started functioning in 1984 onwards where all kinds of Mahal printing work is undertaken. The press also releases the Lakshadweep Times in three languages on a regular basis: Mahal, English and Malayalam. Presently this unit is functioning in the main Building which is constructed in 1998. For the first time in the history, Mahal Language was brought into the field of typography.

Activities :

  1. Production of note books for the department of Education and Jawahar Navodaya School at Minicoy.
  2. Printing Mahal Text Book for I to IV Standards.
  3. Undertaking printing work from the public on a payment basis.

[edit] Text editors

Fthaana, Universal Word, Accent Express, Accent Special Edition are the most common word processors used. However now most of the people use MS Word to write Mahal.

[edit] Fonts

[edit] Mahal literature

Main article: Mahal literature

Husain Salaahuddheen wrote Siyarathunnabaviyyaa which is the most famous religious literature. The poet Bandeyri Hasan Manikufaan ranks as the most important major literateur in the Mahal language. Bandeyri Hasan Manikufaan wrote Dhiyoage Raivaru.

Other prominent poets include Edhuru Umaru Maafaiy Kaleygefaanu, Mohamed Amin, and Assayyidhu Bodufenvalhugey Seedhee.

[edit] Mahal authors

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

  • Cain, Bruce D. (2000). Divehi (Maldivian): A Synchronic and Diachronic study, PhD thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at Cornell University.
  • Fritz, Sonja. (2001). The Divehi Language: A Descriptive and Historical Grammar of the Maldivian and its Dialects, 2 vols, Heidelberg.
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