Malagasy | |
---|---|
Native to | Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte |
Native speakers | 18 million (2007)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
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 codeIndividual codes: xmv – Antankaranabhr – Baramsh – Masikorobmm – Northern Betsimisarakaplt – Plateau Malagasyskg – Sakalavabzc – Southern Betsimisarakatdx – Tandroy-Mafahalytxy – Tanosytkg – Tesakaxmw – 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.
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.
Manoa ahoana - Hello
Veloma - Goodbye
Nenibe - Grandmother
Dadabe - Grandfather