Dives Akuru Letter Sa

It is Dives Akuru’s letter for the s consonant. On its own, it carries a spoken but unwritten a, much like the s in “sun” followed by a; a vowel sign changes the vowel, and halanta cancels it.

Dives Akuru descends from Brahmi, an early South Asian script, through Grantha. Its forms are closest to medieval Sinhala and also share features with Tigalari, another historical script. As Dhivehi sounds changed, two older hissing consonants—one made near the palate and one with the tongue curled back—were replaced by the dental s made near the teeth.

Why was Dives Akuru used?

It was the historical writing system for Dhivehi in the Maldives. Rulers used it for lōmāfānu, copper-plate grants for building or maintaining mosques. It also appears in paper and wooden decrees, chronicles (written accounts of past events), grave inscriptions, mosque carvings, and pottery.

The earliest known Maldivian coral inscription is a block from Landū, a Maldivian island, in Grantha and dated to the 6th–8th century. Distinctive Dives Akuru forms appear on Buddhist statues of the 9th–10th century, and a consistent written record begins in the 12th century.

Some Dives Akuru records place Arabic alongside it. Thaana appeared alongside Dives Akuru in the 18th century and had replaced it for regular Dhivehi writing by the turn of the 19th century. Thaana runs right to left like Arabic, making it easier to set the two languages together.

Why does the same Dives Akuru letter look different in fonts?

Fonts can show historical forms of the same encoded character. Dives Akuru and evēla akuru are two major phases of one script, encoded together. The 12th–14th century evēla akuru style has different letter forms; a font for another period can make the same 𑤬 look older or more calligraphic.

If 𑤬 appears as a box, choose a font with Dives Akuru coverage.