ަ — abafili
«abafili» is diacritic of Maldivian, the “the Thaana script” script, read as “a”. Short “a”: އަ is “a”, on a consonant ބަ is “ba”. The Maldivian alphabet has 35 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. The main vowel sign of Thaana: one stroke above the letter. It is shown on alifu (އ), a letter with no sound of its own — which is why އަ reads simply “a”. On a carrier the character looks like this: އަ. It appears, for example, in the word “ސަލާމް” — hello.
In short
| Character | ަ |
| Name | abafili |
| Sound | a |
| What it is | diacritic |
| On the carrier | އަ |
In our course the character comes 5th of 35: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ނ and ް, appears in roughly every other word on this site.
How it sounds
Short “a”: އަ is “a”, on a consonant ބަ is “ba”
The character in the “ten fili — vowel signs” group
Five short and five long, in pairs. Without a fili a consonant is not read: ބ is not “b” but an unfinished sign. Here they are shown on alifu (އ), a letter with no sound of its own, which is why އަ sounds simply “a”.
Words with this character
- ސަލާމްsalaamhello
- ރަނގަޅުrangalhufine, well
- ބަރާބަރުbaraabarugreat, excellent
- އަހަރެންaharenI
- ކަލޭkaleyyou (informal)
- ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާthiya beyfulhaayou (polite)
- އަހަރެމެންaharemenwe
- ނަންnanname
- އަހަރެންގެ ނަމަކީaharenge namakeemy name is
- ކޮން ނަމެއްތަ؟kon namehtha?what is your name?
- މަޑުމަޑުންmadumadunslowly
- އަނެއްކާ ބުނޭanekkaa buneyplease say it again
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound, see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 35 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Maldivian character ަ read?
As “a” — it is diacritic of the “the Thaana script” script. Short “a”: އަ is “a”, on a consonant ބަ is “ba”.
What is the letter ަ called?
Abafili. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Maldivian script: it is called “abafili” and reads as “a”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ަ be confused with?
The main vowel sign of Thaana: one stroke above the letter. It is shown on alifu (އ), a letter with no sound of its own — which is why އަ reads simply “a”. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.