Malagasy

Where it’s spoken

Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, spoken by virtually all 28 million Malagasy people. Its many dialects are sometimes grouped into two clusters — Eastern (including Merina, the standard) and Western. Malagasy is the only Austronesian language spoken in Africa, separated by thousands of kilometers from its closest relatives.

What it sounds like

Malagasy phonology was strongly influenced by African contact — it has prenasalized stops (mb, nd, ng) and certain consonants not typical of Austronesian languages. Word stress patterns and rhythm reflect both Austronesian and African influences. The language is non-tonal.

How it’s written

Malagasy was first written in Arabic script (Sorabe) by Arab settlers on the southeast coast in the 15th century. The modern Latin orthography was developed in the 1820s and codified by the London Missionary Society Bible translation of 1835.

History

Malagasy was brought to Madagascar by Austronesian voyagers from Borneo around 350–550 CE, with linguistic evidence pointing to the Ma’anyan people of southeast Kalimantan as the closest relatives. Subsequent African and Arab settlement layered new vocabulary onto the Austronesian foundation.