President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has called for national programs to be introduced to foster “respect and love” for the Dhivehi language.
Speaking at a function organised by the Dhivehi Language Academy, the President stated that the promotion and preservation of the language was a national duty rather than the responsibility of an institution.
President Waheed warned that by neglecting work aimed at the growth of Dhivehi, it risked being buried.
During the function, 30 seconds were observed as a sign of respect for the Dhivehi language, the President’s Office said.
Waheed went on to express concern over the misuse of Dhivehi by Maldivians and youth, before appealing to all parents, guardians and teachers to protect the language.
President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad told Minivan News there was no risk of the language being “put to one side” in place of another.
“The concern regarding the misuse of the language was in reference to slang coming into Dhivehi. The language is certainly not dying,” he added.
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We call him to respect the Constitution and laws of the land, and step down from the office held not by way of election but by a coup. Coup is not the proper means of winning office. Respect the law of elections, and step down to allow a free, fair and inclusive election in September.
"According to David Crystal there are three broad stages that a language goes through when it is dying. These stages can be said to be the stages that Dhivehi is going through today. The first is immense socio-economic pressure for the people to speak a dominant language. In the case of Dhivehi speakers today, they are facing immense pressure to speak English (as discussed earlier). The second stage is “a stage of emerging bilingualism as people become increasingly efficient in the new language while still retaining competence in their old one”. Dhivehi language has been going through this stage since the 1980s and 1990s because since this time more and more Maldivians are becoming proficient in English while still being competent in Dhivehi.
Today, Dhivehi can be said to be entering the third stage “in which the younger generation are becoming increasingly proficient in the new language, identifying more and more with it, and finding their first language less relevant to their new needs”.67 Today, many of the younger generation of Maldivians are identifying more and more with English language and finding that Dhivehi, their first language, is less
relevant to their needs. However, at the same time many Maldivians are aware of the importance of Dhivehi as a crucial part of identity and their cultural heritage. According to Crystal, in this third and final stage of language death, parents begin to speak to their children in the new language and the new language is used more and more and the first language is used less and less in important political and economic areas. This can be seen in the case of Dhivehi language at present."
- YUMNA MAUMOON ABDUL GAYOOM
A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE
DHIVEHI LANGUAGE - 2002
Don't contradict me, Masood.
Languages are a human invention to communicate with each other.
When we are the only ones speaking it, it becomes useless.
We could choose Arabic, in which case we would understand religion better, and communicate easily to a big population in this globalized world.
We could choose Chinese. THis would dominate the world in near future.
We could choose English and go with the civilised world.
Having Dhivehi as an anchor would just drag us down.
I have conducted, sat on on both sides, participated in several job interviews. NEVER ONCE, did the question of Dhivehi was discussed. In fact, it was generally found that a student good in Dhivehi tended to be deficient in the more important ones like Physics, Maths etc.
It's the Maldivian's responsibility to preserve your own culture and language. When you only use foreign language,how can you call yourself a Maldivian? We learn foreign languages not to forget our own but to know the outside world and to communicate with people from foreign countries.