Malagasy language

Malagasy
Native to	Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte
Native speakers	18 million (2007)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian East Barito Malagasy
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet) Malagasy Braille
Official status
Official language in	Madagascar
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mg
ISO 639-2	mlg (B) mlg (T)
ISO 639-3	mlg – inclusive code 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
Glottolog	mala1537

Malagasy is an Austronesian language that is spoken in Madagascar. It is related to languages such as Indonesian, Javanese and Maori. That means that Malagasy is related to languages spoken in Indonesia. This is probably because immigrants from Indonesia came to Madagascar until A.D. 1400. It is the only Austronesian language spoken in Africa.

Writing

Malagasy is written using the English alphabet, but without c, q, u, w and x. No accents or other diacritical marks are used. It was invented by David Jones as a replacement for Sorabe (a type of Arabic script). Most letters have their IPA values. However, y and i are both pronounced like /i/ and h is often silent. A few consonant digraphs (tr, dr, ts) are used.

Examples of words

Manoa ahoana - Hello

Veloma - Goodbye

Nenibe - Grandmother

Dadabe - Grandfather

References

• Desanker, Paul V., Peri M. Klemm, Kenneth J. Perkins, Kwesi Kwaa Prah, and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza. "Africa." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
• Fetter, Bruce S. "Madagascar." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
• "Madagascar." SIRS Discoverer: Culture Facts. Sept. 16 2002: n.p. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
• "Madagascar (Archive)." SIRS Discoverer: Country Facts. 2010: n.p. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
• "Consonant Digraphs." First School Years. Web. 2 June 2014. <http://www.firstschoolyears.com/literacy/word/phonics/digraphs/digraphs.htm Archived 2014-06-12 at the Wayback Machine>.