Arabic to Divehi: keep Thaana vowels even when the direction looks familiar
Shared right-to-left writing does not imply the same spelling rules
Arabic and Divehi both run from right to left, but Divehi normally uses Thaana rather than Arabic script. Thaana letters do not join in the Arabic cursive manner. A translated word can therefore look visually unfamiliar even though the line begins on the side an Arabic reader expects. Judge the word through its Divehi spelling, not by whether its letters resemble an Arabic rendering.
Vowel signs are especially important. Ordinary Arabic often omits short-vowel marks, whereas Thaana requires vowel signs or a sukun with consonants. Removing small marks from the Divehi result as a cosmetic simplification can damage the word. For example, ފެން means water; preserve its marks when copying a request or label. An Arabic habit of reading unvowelled prose should not become an instruction to strip the target's vowels.
If marks look displaced in a messaging app, compare the copied text in a Thaana-supporting font or application before changing the spelling. A display problem and a translation error need different remedies. Retyping only the large letter shapes may produce a cleaner-looking line while losing the information needed to read it.
Arabic-related vocabulary still needs a Divehi construction
Divehi contains Arabic-derived vocabulary, but a recognizable source or borrowed word does not make a complete Arabic sentence ready for use in Divehi. Select the meaning through the whole message. A name, a religious expression, and an ordinary noun may each require different treatment, even if their historical connections make part of the output recognizable.
For a travel message, distinguish a building name from a description of a house or home. Divehi ގެ can mean house, but that dictionary equivalent does not specify the owner, destination, or purpose of a visit. Keep those relationships in the Arabic source. A request to deliver something to a named residence is different from a sentence describing who lives there.
Likewise, do not replace an established person's name by translating the everyday meaning of its Arabic parts. Use a conventional spelling where available and keep the original record spelling accessible when the recipient must match a reservation or document. The surrounding Divehi prose should communicate the intended action while the name continues to identify the same person.
Numbers and codes retain their own usable order
Thaana text can contain European or Arabic digits, and European digit strings display left to right. A shared right-to-left paragraph direction does not mean that a reference code should be reversed. Check the actual characters and their sequence, especially when a code includes Latin letters or punctuation.
For an Arabic booking message, preserve the exact reference, quantity, and date value while checking the Divehi wording separately. If the source date is ambiguous, resolve its intended day and month before changing its presentation. A readable sentence with a reversed code still fails its practical purpose.
Before sending, inspect three things independently: the complete Thaana word including its marks, the relationship between the named people and places, and any identifier the recipient must use. Familiar writing direction can make the output feel easier to inspect than it really is; these specific checks help an Arabic reader preserve both linguistic meaning and usable travel details.
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