Malagasy Language Guide

Official language in
Madagascar
Script
Latin

Where it's spoken

Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar; together with French, it is one of the country's two official languages under the constitution. It is the only language spoken across the whole of the island, though the island has around 18 regional dialects — among them Sakalava, Tsimihety, Betsimisaraka, Betsileo, Antandroy, Antanosy, Antesaka, Antemoro, and Bara, alongside Standard Malagasy. These dialects are described as sharing the same basic grammatical structure and differing mainly in vocabulary.

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Script & pronunciation

Malagasy is written in the Latin alphabet. Its standard spelling leaves out the letters c, q, u, w, and x, and the vowel letter o represents the sound of English "oo," as in the English word pool. This app's romanization writes each word broken into syllables joined by hyphens, as in a-zo a-LE-ha ("can be entered") and a-min'ny SE-za mi-RIN-dra ("with a wheelchair"). The app also marks one syllable in many words with capital letters in its romanization, as seen in a-LE-ha and SE-za above, and the native spelling itself sometimes carries a grave accent, as in Masìna hianao ("please").

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Grammar essentials

Malagasy sentences place the predicate first and the subject last — verb-object-subject (VOS) order — and this app's cards mark this explicitly, as in Hitoetra alina firy ianao? ("How many nights are you planning to stay?"), where the verb Hitoetra comes first and the subject ianao ("you") comes last. Verbs are marked for tense by a prefix on the root, as in the future prefix hi- in Hitoetra above. There is no verb "to be," so an adjective alone can serve as the whole predicate, as in Tsara ("Fine / Good"), used to answer "how are you?" Negation is formed by placing tsy directly before the predicate, as in Tsy tonga ny bagage-ko ("My luggage hasn't arrived"). A yes/no question is formed by adding the particle ve after the predicate, as in Misy entana tokony holazaina ve? ("Do you have anything to declare?"). The word for "when" changes with tense: this app's cards use Rahoviana to ask about the future, as in Rahoviana no hanomboka ny fiakarana? ("When does boarding begin?"), and Oviana for the past or present, as in Oviana no afaka ianao? ("When are you available?").

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Politeness & etiquette

Malagasy greetings vary in register: this app's cards mark Manao ahoana ("Hello / How are you") as usable in both formal and casual settings, while Salama is translated as "Hi / Hello (casual)," a greeting used among friends or peers. Azafady, which the app glosses as "Excuse me / Sorry / Please," is a single, versatile courtesy word used for apologizing, getting someone's attention, and making a request; introductory Malagasy course material for foreign residents likewise glosses azafady as "please/sorry."

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