އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސު
“އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސު” (amilla nafsu) — yourself in Maldivian. Pronoun, level A1. There's no standalone 'yourself' in Dhivehi: reflexivity is carried by amilla, 'one's own' — the course knows the 'oneself' shape — plus nafsu, the Arabic 'soul'. In a live sentence: “އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސަށް އިތުބާރުކުރޭ” — Believe in yourself. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters އ, ަ, މ, ި, އ, ް, ލ, ަ, ނ, ަ, ފ, ް. A word from the everyday Maldivian course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Maldivian | އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސު |
| Read in Latin letters | amilla nafsu |
| Translation | yourself |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A1 |
- އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސުamilla nafsuyourself
Why it looks that way
There's no standalone 'yourself' in Dhivehi: reflexivity is carried by amilla, 'one's own' — the course knows the 'oneself' shape — plus nafsu, the Arabic 'soul'
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސަށް އިތުބާރުކުރޭamilla nafsah ithubaarukureyBelieve in yourself
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “yourself” in Maldivian?
«އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސު», read “amilla nafsu”. In a live sentence: “އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސަށް އިތުބާރުކުރޭ” — Believe in yourself. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A1; written with the characters އ, ަ, މ, ި, އ, ް, ލ, ަ, ނ, ަ, ފ, ް.
How is “އަމިއްލަ ނަފްސު” written in Latin letters?
amilla nafsu. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
There's no standalone 'yourself' in Dhivehi: reflexivity is carried by amilla, 'one's own' — the course knows the 'oneself' shape — plus nafsu, the Arabic 'soul'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.