| Malagasy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spoken in | Madagascar Comoros Mayotte |
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| Native speakers | 15—18 million[1] (2006)[2] | |||
| Language family |
Austronesian
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| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-1 | mg | |||
| ISO 639-2 | mlg (B) mlg (T) |
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| ISO 639-3 | mlg – Macrolanguage individual codes: xmv – Antankarana bhr – Bara msh – Masikoro bmm – Northern Betsimisaraka plt – Plateau Malagasy skg – Sakalava bzc – Southern Betsimisaraka tdx – Tandroy-Mafahaly txy – Tanosy tkg – Tesaka xmw – Tsimihety vez – Vezo |
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Malagasy [ˌmalaˈɡasʲ] is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.
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The Malagasy language is not related to nearby African languages, instead being the westernmost member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family,[3] a fact noted as long ago as 1708 by the Dutch scholar Adriaan van Reeland.[4] It is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, and more closely to the Southeast Barito languages spoken in Borneo except for its Polynesian morphophonemics.[5] Malagasy shares much of its basic vocabulary with the Ma'anyan language, a language from the region of the Barito River in southern Borneo. This indicates that Madagascar was first settled by Austronesian people from the Malay Archipelago who had passed through Borneo. According to recent research on genetics, the first Austronesian settlement may have taken place in the beginning of our era (or perhaps before).[6] Then the migrations continued along the first millenium, as confirmed by linguistics researchers who showed the close relashionship between the Malagasy language and Old Malay and Old Javanese languages of this period.[7][8] Far later, ca. 1000 A.D., the original Austronesian settlers must have mixed with East Africans and Arabs, amongst others.[9] Thus, the Malagasy language also includes some borrowings from Arabic and Bantu languages (especially the Sabaki branch, from whom most notably Swahili derives).
The language has a written literature going back presumably to the 15th century. When the French established Fort-Dauphin in the 17th century, they found an Arabico-Malagasy script in use, known as Sorabe. The oldest known manuscript in that script is a short Malagasy-Dutch vocabulary from the early 17th century first published in 1908 by Gabriel Ferrand[10] though the script must have been introduced into the southeast area of Madagascar in the 15th century.[9] Radama I, the first literate representative of the Merina monarchy, though extensively versed in the Arabico-Malagasy tradition,[11] opted for alphabetization in Latin characters and invited the Protestant London Missionary Society to establish schools and churches.
Malagasy has a rich tradition of oratory arts and poetic histories and legends. The most famous is the national epic, Ibonia, about a Malagasy folk hero of the same name.
The first book to be printed in Malagasy was the Bible, which was translated into Malagasy in 1835 by British Protestant missionaries[12] working in the highlands area of Madagascar. The first bilingual renderings of religious texts are those by Étienne de Flacourt,[13] who also published the first dictionary of the language.[14]
There are two principal dialects of Malagasy, eastern, including Merina, and western, including Sakalava, with the isogloss running down the spine of the island, the south being western, and the central plateau and much of the north (apart from the very tip) being eastern. These are easily distinguished by several phonological features.
Sakalava lost final nasal consonants, whereas Merina added a voiceless [ə̥]:
Final *t became -[tse] in the one but -[ʈʂə̥] in the other:
Sakalava retains ancestral *li and *ti, whereas in Merina these become [di] (as in huditra 'skin' above) and [tsi]:
However, these last changes started in Borneo before the Malagasy arrived in Madagascar.
Ethnologue encodes a dozen varieties of Malagasy as distinct languages. They have about a 70% similarity in lexicon with Merina dialect.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i, y /i/ |
o /u/ |
|
| Mid | e /e/ |
(ô /o/) |
|
| Open | a /a/ |
After a stressed syllable, as at the end of most words and in the final two syllables of some, /a, u, i/ are reduced to [ə, ʷ, ʲ]. (/i/ is spelled ⟨y⟩ in such cases, though in monosyllabic words like ny and vy, ⟨y⟩ is pronounced as a full [i].) Final /a/, and sometimes final syllables, are devoiced at the end of an utterance. /e/ and /o/ are never reduced or devoiced.
/o/ is marginal in Merina dialect, found in interjections and loan words, though it is also found in place names from other dialectical areas. /ai, au/ are diphthongs [ai̯, au̯] in careful speech, [e, o] in more casual speech. /ai/, whichever way it is pronounced, affects following /k, ɡ/ as /i/ does.
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ŋ ⟨n̈⟩ | |||||
| Plosive or affricate |
Voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | ts ⟨ts⟩ | ʈʳ ⟨tr⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | ||
| Voiceless prenasalized | mp ⟨mp⟩ | nt ⟨nt⟩ | nts ⟨nts⟩ | ɳʈʳ ⟨ntr⟩ | ŋk ⟨nk⟩ | |||
| Voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | dz ⟨j⟩ | ɖʳ ⟨dr⟩ | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | |||
| Voiced prenasalized | mb ⟨mb⟩ | nd ⟨nd⟩ | ndz ⟨nj⟩ | ɳɖʳ ⟨ndr⟩ | ŋɡ ⟨ng⟩ | |||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | ||||
| Voiced | v ⟨v⟩ | z ⟨z⟩ | ||||||
| Lateral | l ⟨l⟩ | |||||||
| Trill | r ⟨r⟩ | |||||||
The alveolars /s ts z dz l/ are slightly palatalized. /ts, dz, s, z/ vary between [ts, dz, s, z] and [tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ], and are especially likely to be the latter when followed by unstressed /i/: Thus French malgache [malɡaʃ] 'Malagasy'. The velars /k ɡ ŋk ŋɡ h/ are palatalized after /i/ (e.g., alika /alikʲa/ 'dog'). /h/ is frequently elided in casual speech.
The postalveolar consonants /ʈʳ ɳʈʳ ɖʳ ɳɖʳ/ are sometimes simple stops, [ʈ ɳʈ ɖ ɳɖ], but they often have a rhotic release, [ʈɽ̝̊ ɳʈɽ̝̊ ɖɽ̝ ɳɖɽ̝]. It is not clear if they are actually trilled, or are simply non-sibilant affricates. However, in another Austronesian language with a claimed trilled affricate, Fijian, trilling occurs but is rare, and the primary distinguishing feature is that it is postalveolar.[15] The Malagasy sounds are frequently trascribed [ʈʂ ɳʈʂ ɖʐ ɳɖʐ], and that is the convention used in this article.
In reduplication, compounding, possessive and verbal constructions, and after nasals, fricatives and liquids ('spirants') become stops, as follows:
| voiced | voiceless | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| spirant | stop | spirant | stop |
| v | b | f | p |
| l | d | ||
| z | dz | s | ts |
| r | ɖʳ (ɖʐ) | ||
| h | k | ||
Words are generally accented on the penultimate syllable, unless the word ends in ka, tra and often na, in which case they are stressed on the antepenultimate syllable. In many dialects, unstressed vowels (except /e/) are devoiced, and in some cases almost completely elided; thus fanorona is pronounced [fə̥ˈnurnə̥].
Malagasy has been written using the Latin alphabet since 1823, before which the Arabic Ajami script, or Sorabe ("large writings") as it is known in Madagascar, was used for astrological and magical texts.
The alphabet consists of 21 letters: a, b, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, v, y, z. The orthography maps rather straightforwardly to phonetics. The letters i and y both represent the /i/ sound (y is used word-finally, and i elsewhere), while o is pronounced /u/. The affricates /ʈʂ/ and /ɖʐ/ are written tr and dr, respectively, while /ts/ and /dz/ are written ts and j. The letter h is often silent. All other letters have essentially their IPA values.
Mp and occasionally nt may begin a word, but they are pronounced /p, t/.
@ is used informally as a short form for amin'ny, which is a preposition followed by the definite form, meaning for instance with the.
Diacritics are not obligatory in standard Malagasy. They may however be used in the following ways:
Malagasy has a verb–object–subject word order:
Mamaky boky ny mpianatra
(reads book the student)
"The student is reading the book"
Nividy ronono ho an'ny zaza ny vehivavy
(bought milk for the child the woman)
"The woman bought milk for the child"
Within phrases, Malagasy order is typical of head initial languages: Malagasy has prepositions rather than postpositions (ho an'ny zaza "for the child"). Determiners precede the noun, while quantifiers, modifying adjective phrases, and relative clauses follow the noun (ny boky "the book(s)", ny boky mena "the red book(s)", ny boky rehetra "all the books", ny boky novakin'ny mpianatra "the book(s) read by the student(s)").
Somewhat unusually, demonstrative determiners are repeated both before and after the noun ity boky ity "this book" (lit. "this book this").
Verbs have syntactically three productive "voice" forms according to the thematic role they play in the sentence: the basic "agent focus" forms of the majority of Malagasy verbs, the derived "patient focus" forms used in "passive" constructions, and the derived "goal focus" forms used in constructions with focus on instrumentality. Thus
all mean "I wash my hands with soap" though focus is determined in each case by the sentence initial verb form and the sentence final (noun) argument: manasa "wash" and aho "I" in (1), sasako "wash" and ny tanako "my hands" in (2), anasako "wash" and ny savony "soap" in (3). It should be noted that there is no equivalent to the English preposition with in (3).
Verbs inflect for past, present, and future tense, where tense is marked by prefixes (e.g., mividy "buy", nividy "bought", hividy "will buy").
Malagasy has no grammatical gender, and nouns do not inflect for number. However, pronouns and demonstratives have distinct singular and plural forms (cf. io boky io "that book", ireto boky ireto "these books").
There is a complex series of personal and demonstrative pronouns, depending on the speaker's familiarity and closeness to the referent.
Malagasy has a complex system of deixis (these, those, here, there, etc.), with seven degrees of distance as well as evidentiality across all seven. The evidential dimension is prototypically visible vs. non-visible referents; however, the non-visible forms may be used for visible referents which are only vaguely identified or have unclear boundaries, whereas the visible forms are used for non-visible referents when these are topical to the conversation.[16]
| prox | med | dist | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adverbs (here, there) |
nvis | atỳ | àto | ào | àtsy | àny | aròa* | arỳ |
| vis | etỳ | èto | èo | ètsy | èny | eròa | erỳ | |
| Pronouns (this, that) (these, those) |
nvis | izatỳ* | izàto* | izào | izàtsy* | izàny | izaròa* | izarỳ* |
| vis | itỳ | ìto | ìo | ìtsy | ìny | iròa* | irỳ | |
| vis.pl | irèto | irèo | irètsy | irèny | ireròa* | irerỳ* | ||
Notes :
The first dictionary of the language is Étienne de Flacourt's Dictionnaire de la langue de Madagascar published in 1658 though earlier glossaries written in arabico-malagasy script exist. A later Vocabulaire Anglais-Malagasy was published in 1729. An 892-page Malagasy–English dictionary was published by James Richardson of the London Missionary Society in 1885, available as a reprint; however, this dictionary includes archaic terminology and definitions. Whereas later works have been of lesser size, several have been updated to reflect the evolution and progress of the language, including a more modern, bilingual frequency dictionary based on a corpus of over 5 million Malagasy words.[17]
The following samples are of the Merina dialect (standard Malagasy), spoken in the capital of Madagascar and in the central highlands or "plateau," home of the Merina tribe.[17][18] It is generally understood throughout the island.
| English | Malagasy | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| English | Anglisy | ãŋɡliʂ |
| Yes | Eny | ˈʲenj |
| No | Tsia, Tsy [19] | tsi, tsʲ |
| Hello! and How are You? | Manao ahoana! | manaˈʷonə̥, manaˈonə̥ |
| Hello! (rural areas) | Salama! | saˈlamə̥ |
| I'm fine, thank you. | Tsara fa misaotra. | ˈtsarə̥ fa mʲˈsoːtʂə̥ |
| Goodbye! | Veloma! | veˈlumə̥ |
| Please | Azafady | azaˈfadʲ |
| Thank you | Misaotra | mʲˈsoːtʂa |
| You're welcome | Tsisy fisaorana. | tsʲ ˈmisʲ fʲˈsoːranə̥ |
| Excuse me | Azafady (with arm and hand pointing to the ground) | azaˈfadʲ |
| Sorry | Miala tsiny | mjala ˈtsinʲ |
| Who? | Iza? | ˈiːza, ˈiza |
| What? | Inona? | inːa |
| When? | Rahoviana? or Oviana past tense | roᶷˈvinə̥, rawˈvinə̥ |
| Where? | Aiza? | ajzə̥ |
| Why? | Fa maninona? | fa maninːə̥ |
| How? | Ahoana? | aˈʷonə̥ |
| How many? | Firy? | ˈfirʲ |
| How much? | Ohatrinona? | ʷoˈtʂinːə̥ |
| What's your name? | Iza ny anaranao? | iza njanaraˈnaw |
| For | Ho an'ny, or ho an'i | wanːi |
| Because | Satria | saˈtʂi |
| I don't understand. | Tsy mazava, or tsy azoko. | tsʲ mazavə̥ |
| Yes, I understand. | Eny, mazava (or azoko). | ʲenʲ mazavə̥ |
| Help! | Vonjeo! | vunˈdzew |
| Can you help me please? | Afaka manampy ahy ve ianao azafady? | afaka manapʲ a ve enaw azafadʲ |
| Where are the toilets? | Aiza ny efitrano fivoahana? (Aiza ny V.C.?, Aiza ny toliet?) | ajza njefitʂanʷ fiˈvwaːnə̥ |
| Do you speak English? | Mahay teny anglisy ve ianao? | miˈtenʲ ãŋˈɡliʂ ve eˈnaw |
| I do not speak Malagasy. | Tsy mahay teny malagasy aho. | tsʲ maaj tenʲ malaˈɡasʲ a |
| I do not speak French. | Tsy mahay teny frantsay aho. | tsʲ maaj tenʲ frantsaj a |
| I am thirsty. | Mangetaheta aho. | maŋɡetaˈeta |
| I am hungry. | Noana aho. | noːna |
| I am tired. | Vizaka aho. or Reraka aho. | ˈvizaka rerakau |
| I need to pee. | Poritra aho. or Ny olombelona tsy akoho. | purtʂa |
| I would like to go to Antsirabe. | Tiako hankany Antsirabe. | tiku ande anjantsirabe |
| That's expensive! | Lafo be izany! | lafʷˈbe zanʲ |
| I'm hungry for some rice. | Noana vary aho. | noːna varja |
| What can I do for you? | Inona no azoko atao ho anao? | inːa ɲazʷkwataʷ wanaw |
| I like... | Tiako... | tikʷ |
| I love you. | Tiako ianao. | tikwenaʷ |
| Numbers | ||
| one | isa/iray | isə̥ |
| two | roa | ru |
| three | telo | telʷ |
| four | efatra | ˈefatʂə̥ |
| five | dimy | ˈdimʲ |
| six | enina | enː |
| seven | fito | fitʷ |
| eight | valo | valʷ |
| nine | sivy | sivʲ |
| ten | folo | fulʷ |
| eleven | iraika ambin'ny folo | rajkʲambefulʷ |
| twelve | roa ambin'ny folo | rumbefulʷ |
| twenty | roapolo | ropulʷ |
| thirty | telopolo | telopulʷ |
| forty | efapolo | efapulʷ |
| fifty | dimampolo | dimapulʷ |
| sixty | enim-polo | empulʷ |
| seventy | fitopolo | fitupulʷ |
| eighty | valopolo | valupulʷ |
| ninety | sivifolo | sivfulʷ |
| one hundred | zato | zatʷ |
| two hundred | roan-jato | rondzatʷ |
| one thousand | arivo | arivʷ |
| ten thousand | iray alina | rajal |
| one hundred thousand | iray hetsy | rajetsʲ |
| one million | iray tapitrisa | rajtaptʂisə̥ |
| one billion | iray lavitrisa | rajlavtʂisə̥ |
| 3,568,942 | roa amby efapolo sy sivin-jato sy valo arivo sy enina alina sy dimy hetsy sy telo tapitrisa |
rumbefapulʷ sʲsivdzatʷ sʲvalorivʷ sʲenːal sʲdimjetsʲ sʲtelutapitʂisə̥ |
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