Antaimoro dialect

Antaimoro
Antaimoro
Zakan'Atemoro
Native to	Madagascar ;
Ethnicity	Antemoro people
Native speakers	1,327,000
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Central-Eastern Malagasic Plateau Malagasy Antaimoro; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet); Sorabe alphabet ;
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mg
ISO 639-3	plt
Glottolog	anta1259
Linguasphere	31-LDA-bb
	Antemoro dialect – Namorona Two women from Namorona recount in the Antemoro dialect how, in a moment of desperation during a famine, people resorted to eating wild fruits that turned out to be poisonous.
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Last updated July 20, 2025

Antaimoro or Antemoro is a dialect^[2] of Malagasy spoken by Antemoro people in the ex-region of Vatovavy-Fitovinany. ^[3]

Classification

Antemoro is part of the Austronesian language family, within the Central-Eastern Malagasic branch. It is further classified under the Plateaux Malagasy alongside Merina,Sihanaka, Antambahoaka and Antefasy.^[4]

Geographical distribution

The Antemoro dialect is primarily spoken in the Fitovinany region of southeastern Madagascar, particularly in the districts of Manakara-Atsimo and Vohipeno. It is also spoken in the southern part of the neighboring Vatovavy region, including several communes such as Namorona, Sandrohy, and Vatohandrina.^[5]

Characteristics

The Antemoro dialect is closely related to the Antaifasy dialect, with only minor phonological and lexical differences. One distinctive feature is the use of suffixes such as -tra and -gna in Antemoro, compared to variations like -gny in Antefasy. For example, the verb "to talk" is rendered as mikoragna in Antemoro, while in Antefasy it appears as mikoragny. Additionally, certain vocabulary items differ; for instance, the word for "sword" is sabatry in Antefasy and sabatra in Antemoro. Despite these differences, the dialects remain mutually intelligible to a high degree.

Lexical Comparison between Antefasy and Antemoro Dialects
Gloss	Antefasy	Antemoro
one	raiky	raika
I	iaho	iaho
me	anaha	anaha
we (inclusive)	atsika	atsika
we (exclusive)	ihay / ahay	ihay / ahay
they/them	indreo	indreo
only	avao	avao
also	koa	koza
all	aby/rehetra	aby/rehetra
to tell	mizaka / mitantara	mizaka / mitantara
above	ambony	ambony
now	amizao	amizao
dear	ingaha	ingahy
the / that	gne / e	gny
even	ndre	ndre
even if	ndre da	ndre da

Vocabulary

Numerals

English	Standard Malagasy	Antaimoro
One	Iray/Isa	Raika/Isa
Two	Roa	Roa
Three	Telo	Telo
Four	Efatra	Efatra
Five	Dimy	Dimy
Six	Enina	Enina
Seven	Fito	Fito
Eight	Valo	Valo
Nine	Sivy	Sivy
Ten	Folo	Folo
Hundred	Zato	Zato
Thousand	Arivo	Arivo
Ten thousand	Iray halina	Ray haligny
One hundred thousand	Iray hetsy	Ray hetsy
One million	Tapitrisa	Tapitrisa

Animals

English	Standard Malagasy	Antaimoro
Animal	Biby	Biby
Bird	Vorona	Vorogny
Duck	Ganagana	Ganagana
Chicken	Akoho	Akoho
Goose	Gisa	Gisa
Cow	Omby	Aomby
Sheep	Ondry	Ondry

Direction

English	Standard Malagasy	Antaimoro
North	Avaratra	Avaratry
South	Atsimo	Atsimo
East	Atsinanana	Atsignanagna
West	Andrefana	Andrefagna

Time

English	Standard Malagasy	Antaimoro
Day	Andro	Andro
Today	Anio/Androany	Androany
Yesterday	Omaly	Omaly
Tomorrow	Rahampitso	Omaray/Ampitso
Month	Volana	Volagna
Year	Taona	Taogna

Writing System

The Antemoro dialect is one of the Malagasy varieties that were historically written using the Arabic-derived Arabico-Malagasy script, alongside that of the Antambahoaka and Tanosy. This script, known as *Sorabe* ("large writings"), was primarily used for magical and divinatory purposes.^[6]^[7]

In the early 19th century, during the reign of King Andrianampoinimerina (c. 1800–1804), two Taimoro sages from the southeast, Andriamahazonoro (d. 1838) and Ratsilikaina, were summoned to the Merina capital to inaugurate a royal palace school. By 1817, they had introduced the Sorabe script to five or six royal children, including the future king Radama I.^[8]

Before ultimately deciding to adopt the Latin alphabet for the translation of the Bible, the first English Protestant missionaries in Madagascar considered using the Arabico-Malagasy orthography of the Taimoro people. They studied the script and discussed this possibility with King Radama I, before jointly opting for the Latin alphabet as the basis of the new standardized writing system.^[9]

References

↑ "Antemoro in Madagascar". Joshua Project. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
↑ Ferrand, Gabriel (1909). Essai de phonétique comparée du malais et des dialectes malgaches : thèse pour le doctorat d'université, présentée à la Faculté des lettres de l'Université de Paris (in French). Paris: Paul Geuthner. pp. XXXVIII.
↑ "Translations – Islands Mission". Islands Mission. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
↑ The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society. London Missionary Society: 40. 1890.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Molet, Louis (1957). Petit guide de toponymie malgache (PDF) (in French). Tananarive: Scientific Research Institute of Madagascar, Department of Human Sciences. pp. map (unnumbered) + p. 8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) The map is placed before the numbered pages.
↑ Ferrand, Gabriel (1903). Essai de phonétique comparée du malais et des dialectes malgaches : thèse pour le doctorat d'université (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux, Libraire-Éditeur. pp. 313–314.
↑ "The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine". The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. 5 (17–20): 106–107. 1893.
↑ Campbell, Gwyn (2022). The Madagascar Youths: British Alliances and Military Expansion in the Indian Ocean Region. Cambridge University Press. p. 29.
↑ Abdel-Malek, Anouar; Agblemagnon, N'Sougan Ferdinand (1966). Positions des thèses de troisième cycle soutenues devant la Faculté en 1964. Centre national de la recherche scientifique. p. 145.

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[1] "Antemoro in Madagascar". Joshua Project. Retrieved 15 July 2025.

[2] Ferrand, Gabriel (1909). Essai de phonétique comparée du malais et des dialectes malgaches : thèse pour le doctorat d'université, présentée à la Faculté des lettres de l'Université de Paris (in French). Paris: Paul Geuthner. pp. XXXVIII.

[3] "Translations – Islands Mission". Islands Mission. Retrieved 15 July 2025.

[4] The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society. London Missionary Society: 40. 1890.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[5] Molet, Louis (1957). Petit guide de toponymie malgache (PDF) (in French). Tananarive: Scientific Research Institute of Madagascar, Department of Human Sciences. pp. map (unnumbered) + p. 8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) The map is placed before the numbered pages.

[6] Ferrand, Gabriel (1903). Essai de phonétique comparée du malais et des dialectes malgaches : thèse pour le doctorat d'université (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux, Libraire-Éditeur. pp. 313–314.

[7] "The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine". The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. 5 (17–20): 106–107. 1893.

[8] Campbell, Gwyn (2022). The Madagascar Youths: British Alliances and Military Expansion in the Indian Ocean Region. Cambridge University Press. p. 29.

[9] Abdel-Malek, Anouar; Agblemagnon, N'Sougan Ferdinand (1966). Positions des thèses de troisième cycle soutenues devant la Faculté en 1964. Centre national de la recherche scientifique. p. 145.

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v t e Languages of Madagascar
Official languages	French Malagasy
Malagasy dialects	Sahafatra Antefasy Betsileo Vakinankaratra Masikoro Anjoaty Tanosy Bezanozano Antambahoaka Zafisoro Vezo Sihanaka Tanala Antakarana Antesaka Tsimihety Northern Sakalava Antaimoro Bara Southern Betsimisaraka Northern Betsimisaraka
Foreign languages	English
Sign languages	Malagasy Sign Language

Antaimoro
Zakan'Atemoro
Native to	Madagascar
Ethnicity	Antemoro people
Native speakers	1,327,000 ^[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Central-Eastern Malagasic Plateau Malagasy Antaimoro
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet) Sorabe alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-1	`mg`
ISO 639-3	`plt`
Glottolog	`anta1259`
Linguasphere	`31-LDA-bb`
Antemoro dialect – Namorona Two women from Namorona recount in the Antemoro dialect how, in a moment of desperation during a famine, people resorted to eating wild fruits that turned out to be poisonous.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.