Editing Maldives (section)

===Languages===
{{See also|Maldivian language}}
[[File:Dhivehiscript.svg|thumb|right|Thaana script]]

The official and national language is [[Maldivian language|Dhivehi]], an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language]] closely related to the [[Sinhala language]] of Sri Lanka. The first known script used to write Dhivehi is the ''[[eveyla akuru]]'' script, which is found in the historical recording of kings (''raadhavalhi''). Later a script called ''[[Dhives Akuru|Dhives akuru]]'' was used for a long period. The present-day script is called [[Thaana]] and is written from right to left. [[Thaana]] is derived from a mix of the old indigenous script of [[Dhives Akuru|Dhives akuru]] and [[Arabic script|Arabic abjad]]. Thaana is said to have been introduced during the reign of [[Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam|Mohamed Thakurufaanu]].

English is widely spoken by the locals of the Maldives:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maldives Languages - Languages of Maldives - Language Spoken In Maldives |url=http://maldives.tourism-srilanka.com/travel-tips/language.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111021720/http://maldives.tourism-srilanka.com/travel-tips/language.html |archive-date=11 November 2018 |access-date=12 June 2017 |website=Maldives Tourism}}</ref> "Following the nation's opening to the outside world, the introduction of English as a medium of instruction at the secondary and tertiary levels of education, and its government's recognition of the opportunities offered through tourism, English has now firmly established itself in the country. As such, the Maldives are quite similar to the countries in the Gulf region... The nation is undergoing vast societal change, and English is part of this."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meierkord |first=Christiane |date=March 2018 |title=English in paradise: the Maldives: English is rapidly establishing itself as a second language in a society transforming from fishing to tourism and trade |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-today/article/english-in-paradise-the-maldives/84E0B35287213D3E1A7645FFD32BC16D |url-status=live |journal=English Today |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=2–11 |doi=10.1017/S0266078417000475 |issn=0266-0784 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114164430/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-today/article/abs/english-in-paradise-the-maldives/84E0B35287213D3E1A7645FFD32BC16D |archive-date=14 January 2021 |access-date=31 March 2019 |s2cid=148650495}}</ref>

Otherwise, [[Arabic]] is taught in schools and mosques, as [[Sunni Islam]] is the [[state religion]]. The Maldivian population has formal or informal education in the reading, writing, and pronunciation of the Arabic language, as part of the compulsory religious education for all primary and secondary school students.<ref name=":0" />

'''''Thikijehi Thaana'''''

These additional letters were added to the Thaana alphabet by adding dots ([[Nuqta|{{transliteration|dv|nukuthaa}}]]) to existing letters, to allow for transliteration of Arabic loanwords, as previously Arabic loanwords were written using the Arabic script. Their usage is inconsistent, and becoming less frequent as the spelling changes to reflect pronunciation by Maldivians, rather than the original Arabic pronunciation, as the words get absorbed into the Maldivian language.