Mahafaly dialect

Last updated
Mahafaly
Southern Malagasic group.jpg
Native to
Region Atsimo-Andrefana region, southwest Madagascar
Ethnicity Mahafaly people
Native speakers
472,000 [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 tdx
Glottolog maha1309
Linguasphere 31-LDA-cb

Mahafaly is a dialect of the Malagasy language spoken by the Mahafaly people in the Atsimo-Andrefana region of southwestern Madagascar. [2]

Contents

Classification

Mahafaly belongs to the Austronesian languages family under the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch, within the Barito languages group. It is classified as a Southern Malagasic dialect alongside Southern Sakalava,Tandroy, Vezo, Masikoro and Karimbola. [3]

Geographic distribution

Mahafaly is spoken by approximately 472,000 people in the arid southwest of Madagascar, mainly in the Atsimo-Andrefana region. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "Mahafaly in Madagascar". Joshua Project. Retrieved 29 June 2025. Population 472,000
  2. ↑ 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. p. XXXIX.
  3. ↑ Bright, William (1992). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. p. 205. ISBN   9780195051964.
  4. ↑ 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. 7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) The map is placed before the numbered pages.
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