ޯ — oaboafili
«oaboafili» is diacritic of Maldivian, the “the Thaana script” script, read as “oa”. Long “o”: އޯ is “oo”, on a consonant ބޯ is “boo”. The Maldivian alphabet has 35 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. On a carrier the character looks like this: އޯ. It appears, for example, in the word “ކިހިނެއްތޯ؟” — how are you (polite)?
In short
| Character | ޯ |
| Name | oaboafili |
| Sound | oa |
| What it is | diacritic |
| On the carrier | އޯ |
In our course the character comes 22nd of 35: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ޫ and ތ, appears in 301 words of this site.
How it sounds
Long “o”: އޯ is “oo”, on a consonant ބޯ is “boo”
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
- ކިހިނެއްތޯ؟kihinehthoa?how are you (polite)?
- ދޯނިdhoanidhoni (traditional boat)
- ކިލޯkiloakilogram
- ސައިބޯނިsaiboanisoap
- ބޯboahead
- ލޯloaeye
- ރޯގާroagaaa cold (runny nose)
- ބޯ އެނބުރެނީboa enbureneeI feel dizzy
- އަހަރެންގެ ޕާސްޕޯޓު ގެއްލިއްޖެaharenge paaspoatu gellijjeI lost my passport
- ސްނޯsnoasnow
- ހޯމަhoamaMonday
- ހޯމްވޯކްhoamvoakhomework
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 “oa” — it is diacritic of the “the Thaana script” script. Long “o”: އޯ is “oo”, on a consonant ބޯ is “boo”.
What is the letter ޯ called?
Oaboafili. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Maldivian script: it is called “oaboafili” and reads as “oa”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.