The Maldives have made a name for themselves as the ultimate Indian Ocean vacation getaway. This low-lying archipelagic country is made up of several islands and atolls that allow immediate access to crystal-clear beaches, making the country a hit with tourists. The inhabitants of the island country, almost all of whom are ethnic Maldivians, speak Maldivian as their native language.
Maldivian, or Divehi, as it may also be called, is the native language of roughly 340,000 people. English is also widely used in the Maldives, since it’s essential for the country’s booming tourism industry and is used as the language of instruction in secondary and tertiary education. Most Maldivians are Muslims, so most of the population can also read Arabic, as the language is taught in schools and mosques. The prestige and ubiquity of these other languages—especially English—pose potential threats to Maldivian as the country moves further from its indigenous language, and most translation agencies don’t care, as they don’t offer services for smaller languages like Maldivian in the first place. We at TranslationServices.com, however, have put together a Maldivian translation team, and we’re proud of it.
Discover our rates for Maldivian translation today by checking out a free quote, available upon request.
What is the Maldivian language like?
Maldivian is almost exclusively spoken in the Maldives, although it’s also spoken on Minicoy Island, part of India’s union territory of Lakshadweep. It’s an Indo–European language, which means that it’s technically related to English—but most people would never be able to tell. Historically, people wrote Maldivian in the Divehi Akuru script, derived from the Grantha script found in India’s Tamil Nadu and Kerala, but today it’s written in Thaana, a native writing system with consonants derived from Arabic and Divehi Akuru numerals and vowels based on Arabic vowel diacritics.
Maldivian inflects nouns for definiteness, number, and case, with grammatical relationships divided into seven cases, including an emphatic case for added emphasis. Thanks to the extensive case system, Maldivian word order is flexible, with changes to the word order altering the nuance of the sentence. Another important element of the Maldivian language is the speech register system, which features three levels of speech. The highest, maaiy bas, is used to express respect, while the second level, reethi bas, and the third level, aadhaige bas, are used in day-to-day life.
What kind of Maldivian translation services are you looking for?
We want to make sure everyone has access to accurate, high-quality Maldivian translation services, no matter what their translation project is. To this end, we’ve carefully put together a team of trained translators who specialize in different types of translation, including both translation into Maldivian and translation out of Maldivian. What does this mean in practical terms? Well, even if you want to translate a historical document written in Divehi Akuru, or if you have traditional Maldivian literature with flowery prose, we can help you. From business, to academia, to the far reaches of the creative world, we can translate your Maldivian-language content to English. And we can do the same for English-language content into Maldivian, whether you need us to translate business content, academic papers, educational materials, books, games, websites, or anything else. Quality is our unwavering guarantee.
Why not get started with your Maldivian translation project today? It’s as easy as contacting us with the details.