Linguistic Usage
In modern Dhivehi, the letter Shaviyani has two different usage.
- As a consonant in words such as ބޯށި-boaʂi (banana inflorescence), ނާށި-naaʂi (coconut shells), ދޮށި-dhoʂi (fishing rod) and ދިނަށަ-dhinaʂa (an asterism of Delphini).
- Accompanying the diacritic sukun (ށް). It can be at the final position of a word where the end is abrupt and the value . In this case the value stands for the letter that has disappeared but comes back as when the word is conjugated with another word or when used in full. For example in the word ރަށް-rah (island); but comes back in ރަށެއް-raʂeh (an island), ރަށަކީ-raʂakee (the island is) and ރަށަކުން-raʂakun (from an island).
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