The Dhivehi script, called Thaana, to copy letter by letter. First the 24 letters in alphabet order, haa to chaviyani, then the vowel signs shown on އ, the dotted letters for Arabic sounds and one old letter.
Read the full guide
A sign on every letter
Vowels are signs, called fili, and every letter carries one: a vowel, or the sukun, which means no vowel. Only ނ noonu may stand bare. A vowel with no consonant of its own sits on އ alifu, so އަ is a.
Letters made from digits
The first nine letters, ހ to ވ, come from the Arabic digits 1 to 9, and nine more, ޱ among them, from the local Indic digits. Most of the rest are one of those with a mark added. The order follows neither the Arabic alphabet nor the Indic scripts.
ޱ naviyani was the sixteenth letter until it left official documents around 1953. ޏ gnaviyani has that place now.
އް, alifu with the sukun, doubles the consonant after it. Word-finally it is a glottal stop.
A long vowel sign is the short one doubled, except އޯ oa, which is the short o sign changed.
Questions and answers
How many letters are in the Dhivehi alphabet?
24 basic letters, from ހ haa to ޗ chaviyani. Vowels are written with ten signs, not letters, and a further 14 dotted letters were added, all but one for Arabic sounds.
What is the Dhivehi script called?
Thaana, also spelled Taana or Tāna. It is the writing system of Dhivehi, the Maldivian language, spoken in the Maldives.
Is Dhivehi written right to left?
Yes. Thaana is written from right to left, like Arabic, but it is not cursive: each letter stands apart. European digits inside a line still run left to right.
Is Thaana an alphabet or an abugida?
It has features of both. Vowels are marks on a consonant, as in an abugida, yet no consonant has a vowel built in and every vowel is written, so the Unicode Standard calls it an alphabet.
Is Thaana in Unicode?
Yes, since version 3.0 of September 1999. The Thaana block runs from U+0780 to U+07BF and holds 50 characters, and all 50 are on this page.
All 50 letters
Letters 24
އalifuU+0787 Thaana letter alifu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 8 of 24. Sound IPA ʔ. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 8. It carries a vowel that has no consonant before it: އަ is a. With the sukun, އް, it doubles the next consonant or ends a word in a glottal stop.
ބbaa, bU+0784 Thaana letter baa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 5 of 24. Sound IPA b. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 5.
ޗchaviyani, cU+0797 Thaana letter chaviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 24 of 24. Sound IPA tʃ. Made from ތ thaa with a mark added.
ޑdaviyani, ḍU+0791 Thaana letter daviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 18 of 24. Sound IPA ɖ. Its shape comes from digit 9 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ދdhaalu, dU+078B Thaana letter dhaalu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 12 of 24. Sound IPA d̪. Its shape comes from digit 3 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ފfaafu, fU+078A Thaana letter faafu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 11 of 24. Sound IPA f. Its shape comes from digit 2 of the Dhives Akuru script.
Show all 50 letters (44 more)
Letters, continued
ގgaafu, gU+078E Thaana letter gaafu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 15 of 24. Sound IPA ɡ. Its shape comes from digit 6 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ޏgnaviyani, ñU+078F Thaana letter gnaviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 16 of 24. Sound IPA ɲ. Made from ނ noonu with a mark added. It took this place when ޱ naviyani left official use around 1953; before that it was the 22nd letter.
ހhaa, hU+0780 Thaana letter haa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 1 of 24. Sound IPA h. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 1.
ޖjaviyani, jU+0796 Thaana letter javiyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 23 of 24. Sound IPA dʒ. Made from ދ dhaalu with a mark added.
ކkaafu, kU+0786 Thaana letter kaafu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 7 of 24. Sound IPA k. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 7.
ލlaamu, lU+078D Thaana letter laamu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 14 of 24. Sound IPA l. Its shape comes from digit 5 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ޅlhaviyani, ḷU+0785 Thaana letter lhaviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 6 of 24. Sound IPA ɭ. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 6.
މmeemu, mU+0789 Thaana letter meemu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 10 of 24. Sound IPA m. Its shape comes from digit 1 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ނnoonu, nU+0782 Thaana letter noonu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 3 of 24. Sound IPA n. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 3. The one letter that may stand with no sign: it then makes the next stop prenasal.
ޕpaviyani, pU+0795 Thaana letter paviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 22 of 24. Sound IPA p. Made from ފ faafu with a mark added.
ރraa, rU+0783 Thaana letter raa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 4 of 24. Sound IPA ɾ. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 4.
ސseenu, sU+0790 Thaana letter seenu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 17 of 24. Sound IPA s̺. Its shape comes from digit 8 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ށshaviyani, ṣU+0781 Thaana letter shaviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 2 of 24. Sound IPA ʂ. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 2.
ޓtaviyani, ṭU+0793 Thaana letter taviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 20 of 24. Sound IPA ʈ. Made from ބ baa with a mark added.
ތthaa, tU+078C Thaana letter thaa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 13 of 24. Sound IPA t̪. Its shape comes from digit 4 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ވvaavu, vU+0788 Thaana letter vaavu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 9 of 24. Sound IPA ʋ. Its shape comes from the Eastern Arabic digit 9.
ޔyaa, yU+0794 Thaana letter yaa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 21 of 24. Sound IPA j.
ޒzaviyani, zU+0792 Thaana letter zaviyani. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. Letter 19 of 24. Sound IPA z̺. Made from ރ raa with a mark added.
Vowel signs 11
އާaabaafili, āU+0787 U+07A7. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana aabaafili, the sign of the long vowel aa. Sound IPA aː.
އަabafili, aU+0787 U+07A6. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana abafili, the sign of the short vowel a. Sound IPA a.
އެebefili, eU+0787 U+07AC. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana ebefili, the sign of the short vowel e. Sound IPA e.
އީeebeefili, īU+0787 U+07A9. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana eebeefili, the sign of the long vowel ee. Sound IPA iː.
އޭeybeyfili, ēU+0787 U+07AD. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana eybeyfili, the sign of the long vowel ey. Sound IPA eː.
އިibifili, iU+0787 U+07A8. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana ibifili, the sign of the short vowel i. Sound IPA i.
އޯoaboafili, ōU+0787 U+07AF. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana oaboafili, the sign of the long vowel oa. Sound IPA oː. The one long sign that is not a doubled short one: it is the obofili changed.
އޮobofili, oU+0787 U+07AE. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana obofili, the sign of the short vowel o. Sound IPA o.
އޫooboofili, ūU+0787 U+07AB. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana ooboofili, the sign of the long vowel oo. Sound IPA uː.
އްsukunU+0787 U+07B0. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana sukun, the sign for no vowel. On alifu it doubles the next consonant or ends a word in a glottal stop.
އުubufili, uU+0787 U+07AA. Thaana letter alifu with Thaana ubufili, the sign of the short vowel u. Sound IPA u.
Other letters 15
ޢainu, عU+07A2 Thaana letter ainu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name ‘ainu and sets it beside ع, Arabic letter ain. Sound IPA ʕ.
ޟdaadhu, ضU+079F Thaana letter daadhu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name żādu and sets it beside ض, Arabic letter dad. Sound IPA dˤ.
ޣghainu, غU+07A3 Thaana letter ghainu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name ġainu and sets it beside غ, Arabic letter ghain. Sound IPA ɣ.
ޙhhaa, حU+0799 Thaana letter hhaa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name h̤ā and sets it beside ح, Arabic letter hah. Sound IPA ħ.
ޚkhaa, خU+079A Thaana letter khaa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name k͟hā and sets it beside خ, Arabic letter khah. Sound IPA x.
ޱnaviyani, ṇU+07B1 Thaana letter naa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.2. The article calls it ṇaviyani. Sound IPA ɳ. Once the sixteenth letter, between gaafu and seenu; it left official documents around 1953. Its shape comes from digit 7 of the Dhives Akuru script.
ޤqaafu, قU+07A4 Thaana letter qaafu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name qāfu and sets it beside ق, Arabic letter qaf. Sound IPA q.
ޞsaadhu, صU+079E Thaana letter saadhu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name s̤ādu and sets it beside ص, Arabic letter sad. Sound IPA sˤ.
ޝsheenu, شU+079D Thaana letter sheenu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name śīnu and sets it beside ش, Arabic letter sheen. Sound IPA ʃ.
ޛthaalu, ذU+079B Thaana letter thaalu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name ẕālu and sets it beside ذ, Arabic letter thal. Sound IPA ð.
ޠto, طU+07A0 Thaana letter to. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name t̤ā and sets it beside ط, Arabic letter tah. Sound IPA tˤ.
ޘttaa, ثU+0798 Thaana letter ttaa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name s̱ā and sets it beside ث, Arabic letter theh. Sound IPA θ.
ޥwaavu, وU+07A5 Thaana letter waavu. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name wāvu and sets it beside و, Arabic letter waw. Sound IPA w.
ޜzaa, ژU+079C Thaana letter zaa. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name že and sets it beside ژ, Arabic letter jeh. Sound IPA ʒ. The one dotted letter that was not added for Arabic words.
ޡzo, ظU+07A1 Thaana letter zo. Thaana block, Unicode 3.0. The article writes its name ẓā and sets it beside ظ, Arabic letter zah. Sound IPA ðˤ.
How this list was compiled: Every character was checked against UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt): the code points and the character names in the notes come from that file, names in sentence case. Block names come from Blocks.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Blocks.txt) and the Unicode version each character arrived in from DerivedAge.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt), both version 18.0.0. Other names of a character come from NamesList.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/NamesList.txt). The 24 letters and their order, haa to chaviyani, are the order of the code points and the index list of CLDR's Dhivehi locale (https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/main/dv.xml); the same locale lists the 14 dotted letters and naviyani as auxiliary letters. The name of each letter, the Latin letter beside it, its sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet, the digit or the letter its shape comes from, the dotted letters with the Arabic letter each is set beside, the names and sounds of the vowel signs, and what the page says of alifu, noonu, gnaviyani and naviyani follow Wikipedia's Thaana article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaana), restated in this site's own words. The letter names are the same in the article and in UnicodeData.txt; the names of the vowel signs and of the dotted letters are the Unicode ones, and the note of each dotted letter gives the article's spelling. Each vowel sign is shown on alifu, the carrier the article shows them on. That the script writes the Dhivehi language of the Maldives, that it is not cursive, and the digits used with it follow section 13.1 of the Unicode Standard, version 17.0 (https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode17.0.0/core-spec/chapter-13/). The article's table says the letter yaa is possibly made from shaviyani and its text that the origin is unknown, so the page says neither. Every character of the Thaana block, U+0780 to U+07BF, is on the page. The grouping is this site's own. Each tile was drawn on 2026-10-09 before it was kept, and all of them drew. All sources were read on 2026-10-09. Licence: own work