Central-Eastern Malagasic

Central-Eastern Malagasic belongs to the Austronesian language family, specifically within the Malayo-Polynesian branch. It is part of the Barito group, more precisely the East Barito subgroup. In his 1878 work A Sketch of the Modern Languages of the East Indies, orientalist Robert Needham Cust identified a linguistic affinity between the dialects spoken by the Tanala, Bezanozano, and Sihanaka peoples of Madagascar's eastern interior and those of the Southern Betsimisaraka of Eastern Coast. He considered these dialects to be closely allied, effectively grouping them into a single linguistic cluster corresponding to what is now referred to as the Central-Eastern Malagasy language group.^[3]

Languages in the Central-Eastern Malagasic group are primarily spoken in the central highlands and eastern regions of Madagascar. These areas include province of Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa, and Toamasina.^[4]

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The Central-Eastern Malagasy dialects are considered among the closest to the Merina-based standard and display several phonological and morphological traits that distinguish them from both Southern and Northern Malagasy varieties..^[5][6][7]

One defining feature is the preservation of the final endings-na, -gna, and -gny. Nouns and adjectives generally retain these endings, unlike Southern dialects where they are frequently omitted. Examples include aina / aigna / aigny (life), lena / legna / legny (wet), and taona / taogna / taogny (year), which correspond to the Southern forms ay, le, and tao. The same tendency occurs in verbs: mitaraina (to complain) remains fully realized, whereas Southern speech typically shows mitaray.^[11][12][13]

The consonant d is also preserved, while Southern dialects commonly reflect the equivalent sound as l (except when preceded by a nasal). Central-Eastern forms such as ady (war), mody (to return), and atody (egg) contrast with Southern equivalents aly, moly, and atoly.^[11][14][12]

Words ending in -tra or -try generally retain this ending in Central-Eastern dialects, whereas Southern varieties often show -tsy or -tse. Examples include tratra (achieved), zatra (accustomed), sarotra (difficult), and miakatra (to climb), while Southern speech shows tratsy / tratse, zatsy, sarotry / sarotse, and miakatsy / miakatse.^[11][12]

Central-Eastern Malagasy differs from Northern Malagasy mainly in the pronunciation of the vowel o. In Northern dialects, o often shifts to a mid-rounded vowel, written as ô,^[15] similar to the vowel in English 'note'. In Central-Eastern Malagasy, however, o is pronounced like the oo in tool, making it back and fully rounded.^[13] Examples include tanora and tanôra (young), mpitondra and mpitôndra (leader), and tolom-bahoka and tôlom-bahôaka (popular uprising).^[16][13]

In some words, Central-Eastern Malagasy keeps the o, while Northern Malagasy changes it to a. For instance, mbola (still, yet) in Central-Eastern Malagasy corresponds to mbala in Northern Malagasy.

Central-Eastern Malagasy also keeps the final -a in nouns and verbs, whereas Northern dialects often change this -a to -o. Examples include moka and môko (mosquito), satroka and satroko (hat), and taona or taogny compared with Northern taogno (year).^[16]

Another difference involves the vowel e. In Central-Eastern Malagasy, e remains stable, while in Northern varieties it is usually fronted to i. For example, alefaso aty (send it here) becomes alifasa aty in Northern Malagasy, Fenoy rano ny vera (Fill the glass with water) turns into Finoy rano ny vera.^[17][13]

Finally, Central-Eastern Malagasy retains the final -y in imperatives, as in ataovy mamy (make it sweet), while Northern dialects often reduce it to -a, giving atôva mamy.

A distinctive morphosyntactic feature of Central-Eastern dialects is the restriction on the past morphemes n- / na- / ni-. These markers are avoided with certain common verbs—such as afaka (to succeed), avy (to arrive), tonga (to come), and maty (to be dead)—whereas Northern and Southern dialects freely allow them. In Central-Eastern usage, these verbs appear unchanged, even in past contexts.

The austral part of Central-Eastern dialects share similarities with Southern Malagasy varieties. For instance, the Sahafatra–Antesaka group and Southern Betsileo occasionally omit the final suffixes -na or -gn, reflecting Southern patterns. This omission exist but rare in other southeastern dialects, as seen in words like oro (nose), sofy (ear), and tagna (hand).^[19]

Betsileo is influenced by proximity to Bara and Sakalava areas and is the only Central-Eastern dialect that regularly replaces final -tra with -ts. Examples include mamokatsa (to produce) versus Bara mamokatsy, mitifitsa (to shoot) versus Bara mitifitsy, and mangalatsa (to steal) versus Bara mangalatsy.^[14]

Other Central-Eastern dialects exhibit similarities with Northern Malagasy varieties. For example, Sihanaka shares identical forms with Northern Tsimihety for certain words, including Voalôhany (first) and Mpagnazary (prophet). Other forms show minor variation while remaining closely related, such as Ôlona in Sihanaka versus Ôlogno in Tsimihety (people), and Sabô versus Sabôha (sword). Southern Betsimisaraka aligns with Tsimihety in several lexical items. Silaona (starvation) appears in both Southern Betsimisaraka and Sihanaka, while Northern Tsimihety uses Silagno. The verb Mamaitra (to give) in Southern Betsimisaraka corresponds to Mamaitry in Tsimihety, and Kamarady (friend) in Southern Betsimisaraka aligns with Komarady in Tsimihety.

Demonstrative prefixes such as tak- and ak- are still used in central-eastern dialects like Sihanaka and Southern Betsimisaraka, are found in Northern Malagasic group, notable Tsimihety and Northern Betsimisaraka.^[20]In contrast, the Merina dialect has lost these prefixes. A remnant of the prefix ak- is still found in the verb for "to go to" in Merina, as in mankany. The prefix ak- is also occasionally used in the Vakinankaratra to indicate direction, as in Any avaratra akany, meaning "to the north." A remnant of the prefix ak- is also found in the Antaifasy dialect when referring to a high place, as in akaboagny, which corresponds to the Merina ambony.

The Merina dialect, part of the Central-Eastern group and spoken in and around Antananarivo, forms the basis of Standard Malagasy, the variety used in education, the media, administrative documents, and in liturgy.^[21]

• Malagasy language
• Languages of Madagascar

• "Antefasy Bible Translation App – Wycliffe". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
• "Betsimisaraka Atsimo Bible Translation App – Wycliffe". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2025-11-10.

• "Baiboly Antemoro – Wycliffe". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
• "Sihanaka Bible Translation App – Wycliffe". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
• "Tsimihety Bible Translation App – Wycliffe". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
• "Betsileo Bible Translation App – Wycliffe". Google Play Store. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
• "Jensenius, Ole. 1910. *Dictionnaire Bara-Hova*". Scribd. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
• "Lexique français-Antandroy – Raymond Decary". Scribd. Retrieved 2025-11-10.