Sihanaka dialect

Sihanaka
Sihanaka
Native to	Madagascar ;
Ethnicity	Sihanaka
Native speakers	695,000
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Central-Eastern Malagasic Plateau Malagasy Sihanaka; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet);
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mg
ISO 639-3	plt
Glottolog	siha1244
Linguasphere	31-LDA-ab
	Sihanaka language sample 1 A woman reading gospel in the Sihanaka dialect.; Sihanaka language sample 2 Another recording of a woman reading gospel in the Sihanaka dialect.; Sihanaka language sample 3 A third gospel reading by a woman in the Sihanaka dialect.
	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 23, 2025

Sihanaka is a dialect of Malagasy spoken by Sihanaka people in the region of Lake Alaotra.^[2]^[3]

Classification

Sihanaka is an austronesian language part of Central-Eastern Malagasic ^[4] and part of the Plateau branch of Malagasy language alongside with Merina, Antefasy,Antemoro, Tanala and Betsileo.

Characteristics

The Sihanaka dialect is considered an older form of Merina, retaining broader and more provincial features. While largely intelligible with Merina, it preserves vocabulary now obsolete in Imerina, such as mivony ("to hide") and manjary ("beautiful" or "proper").^[5]

Demonstrative prefixes like tak- and ak- are still used in Sihanaka, as in other dialects of the Northern Malagasy group (e.g., Tsimihety, Northern Betsimisaraka), as well as in Southern Betsimisaraka. In contrast, Merina has lost these prefixes.

Sihanaka also shares the word agnambo for "up / above" with Tsimihety, Northern Betsimisaraka, and Southern Betsimisaraka, while Merina uses ambony.^[6]

Demonstrative Forms Common to Sihanaka, Northern Malagasy dialects, and Southern Betsimisaraka
Gloss	Central-Eastern Malagasic			Northern Malagasic
	Without prefix	With prefix		With prefix
	Merina	Sihanaka	Southern Betsimisaraka	Northern Betsimisaraka	Tsimihety
In (present moment)	ato	akato	akato	akato	akato
In (past moment)	tato	takato	takato	takato	takato
In (general location)	ao	akao	akao	akao	akao
On (surface)	eo	akeo	akeo	akeo	akeo
Here	eto	aketo	aketo	aketo	aketo
There (general location)	any	akagny	akagny	akagny	akagny
There (past location)	tany	takagny	takagny	takagny	takagny
There (recently passed spot)	teo	takeo	takeo	takeo	takeo
Then (after that moment)	avy eo	avy akeo	avy akeo	avy akeo	avy akeo
Spatial Lexicon
Up / above	ambony	agnambo	agnambo	agnambo	agnambo

Territorial Range

In the Alaotra-Mangoro Region of Madagascar, the Sihanaka dialect is chiefly spoken within three districts — Ambatondrazaka District, Amparafaravola District, and Andilamena District — which together form the historical heartland of the Sihanaka people. It is also the most commonly spoken dialect in the city of Ambatondrazaka.^[7]^[8]

Vocabulary

**Sihanaka Vocabulary with Gloss and Standard Malagasy**
#	Gloss	Standard Malagasy	Sihanaka
Numbers & Pronouns
1	One	Iray	Raika
2	Him / His	Azy	Ananzy
3	They / Them	Ireo / Zareo	Zareo
People & Identity
4	Woman / Girl	Vehivavy	Viavy
5	His name	Anarany	Agnarany
6	We call her Hasinah	Hasinah no iantsoana azy	Hasinah agnantsonvangnan'azy
Nature & Food
7	Mango	Manga	Voamanga
8	Sweet potato	Voamanga	Tsimanga
9	Papaya	Papay	Mampazo
10	Pineapple	Mananasy	Manasy
11	Goyava	Goavy	Gavo
Objects & Qualities
12	Thing	Zavatra	Ràha
13	Quality / Personality	Toetra	Toatra
14	Huge	Ngezabe	Gedabe
Space & Place
15	Here	Eto	Aketo
16	There	Eo	Akeo
17	In	Ao	Akao
18	In / Inside	Anaty	Agnaty
19	Above	Ambony	Agnambo
20	In the house	Ao an-trano	An-dragno
Time & Frequency
21	Always	Foana	Foagna
22	Then	Avy eo	Avy takeo
23	Till when	Hatramin'oviana	Katram'oviana
Questions
24	What	Inona	Ino
25	How	Ahoana	Anakôry
Actions
26	To hear	Maheno	Maregny
27	Don’t fear	Aza matahotra	Aza matahatra

References

↑ "PeopleGroups.org - Sihanaka of Madagascar". peoplegroups.org.
↑ "The Sihanaka of Madagascar: God Speaks in Our Language - Wycliffe Bible Translators USA Homepage". www.wycliffe.org.
↑ 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.
↑ Cust, Robert Needham (1878). A Sketch of the Modern Languages of the East Indies (Reprint 2013 ed.). Routledge. p. 71. ISBN 9780415245012.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
↑ "The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine". The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. 1 (1‑3). Press of the London Missionary Society (Antananarivo): 58. 1875.
↑ Jacques Dez, Cheminements linguistiques malgaches au-delà des grammaires usuelles, 1990, p. 111.
↑ "Bilan & évaluation des projets de conservation des sols de la région de Lac Alaotra" (PDF). Open‑Library (CIRAD). Retrieved 28 June 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. p. XL.

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[1] "PeopleGroups.org - Sihanaka of Madagascar". peoplegroups.org.

[2] "The Sihanaka of Madagascar: God Speaks in Our Language - Wycliffe Bible Translators USA Homepage". www.wycliffe.org.

[3] 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.

[4] Cust, Robert Needham (1878). A Sketch of the Modern Languages of the East Indies (Reprint 2013 ed.). Routledge. p. 71. ISBN 9780415245012.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

[5] "The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine". The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. 1 (1‑3). Press of the London Missionary Society (Antananarivo): 58. 1875.

[6] Jacques Dez, Cheminements linguistiques malgaches au-delà des grammaires usuelles, 1990, p. 111.

[7] "Bilan & évaluation des projets de conservation des sols de la région de Lac Alaotra" (PDF). Open‑Library (CIRAD). Retrieved 28 June 2025.

[8] 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. XL.

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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

Sihanaka
Native to	Madagascar
Ethnicity	Sihanaka
Native speakers	695,000 ^[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Central-Eastern Malagasic Plateau Malagasy Sihanaka
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	`mg`
ISO 639-3	`plt`
Glottolog	`siha1244`
Linguasphere	`31-LDA-ab`
Sihanaka language sample 1 A woman reading gospel in the Sihanaka dialect. Sihanaka language sample 2 Another recording of a woman reading gospel in the Sihanaka dialect. Sihanaka language sample 3 A third gospel reading by a woman in the Sihanaka dialect.
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.