Northern Betsimisaraka dialect

Northern Betsimisaraka
Fiteny Betsimisaraka Avaratra
Native to	Madagascar
Ethnicity	Northern Betsimisaraka people [1]
Native speakers	1,799,000 [2]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Northern Malagasic Northern Betsimisaraka
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bzc
Glottolog	nort2890
Linguasphere	31-LDA-ac

Northern Betsimisaraka is a northern dialect of Malagasy spoken by the Northern Betsimisaraka people. ^[3]

Classification

Northern Betsimisaraka dialect belongs to the Austronesian language family and is part of the Northern Malagasic branch. ^[4]

Geographic distribution

The Northern Betsimisaraka dialect is primarily spoken in the Sava Region, Analanjirofo Region (including the island of Sainte-Marie), ^[5] and Atsinanana Region. It is also the popular dialect of the city of Toamasina (Tamatave), and is used by members of the Northern Betsimisaraka diaspora residing in the capital city, Antananarivo. ^[6]

Comparison of Selected Vocabulary in Standard Malagasy and Northern Betsimisaraka Dialect

#	Gloss	Standard Malagasy	Northern Betsimisaraka
Vocabulary
1	One	Isa / Iray	Isa / Araiky
2	All	Rehetra / Avy	Jiaby
3	Already	Efa	Afa
4	Father	Ray	Ada
5	Man	Lehilahy	Lalaha
6	Woman	Vehivavy	Viavy
7	His name	Anarany	Agnaragnanazy
8	He made	Nataony	Nanony
9	His strength	Heriny	Herenazy
10	I created	Izaho no namorona	Za namorogno
11	My name is Angelah	Izaho dia Angelah / Ny anarako dia Angelah	Za zegny agnaragnanahy Angelah
12	21 years old	Iraika ambin'ny roapolo taona	Araiky ambiny rôpolo taogno

References

1. "Language: Malagasy, Betsimisaraka (bmm)". Global Recordings Network. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
2. "People Group: Northern Betsimisaraka". Joshua Project. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
3. "Translations of Malagasy Dialects and Map". Islands Mission. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
4. "The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine". The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. 5 (17–20): 54–57. 1893.
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. 7. The map is placed before the numbered pages.
6. 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. p. XXXVIII.