Lost People: Magic and the Legacy of Slavery in Madagascar

Notes on Malagasy Pronunciation

Generally speaking, Malagasy, of the sort spoken around Arivonimamo, is pronounced not too differently from English (Malagasy speakers often say that English pronunciation is much easier for them than French). However, there are a number of differences: o is pronounced “oo” as in book ao is pronounced “o” as in “owe” ia is pronounced “ee” as in “seen” ai is pronounced “i” as in “high” Unstressed “o”s and “i”s are often unpronounced, and terminal “a”s may or may not be, so that andriana, for example, is often pronounced “andreen.” Some other differences: h is usually not pronounced in the Merina dialect, or is very muted j is pronounced “dz”, as in “adze” g is always hard, as in “goat” Also, if an i precedes a k, that k is followed by a “y” sound: “ikala” (girl) is pronounced “ikyala.” The combination tra can often become a “tch” sound, so that satroka (“hat”) is pronounced “satch-ka”, and mahafinaritra (“pleasant, pleasurable”) is pronounced “maf-natch.” xiii Notes on Malagasy Pronunciation Lost People ...