Southern Betsimisaraka

Southern Betsimisaraka
Fiteny Betsimisaraka Atsimo
Native to	Madagascar
Ethnicity	Betsimisaraka
Native speakers	3,493,000 [1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Central-Eastern Malagasic Southern Betsimisaraka
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bzc
Glottolog	sout2920
Linguasphere	31-LDA-ad

Southern Betsimisaraka is a dialect of Malagasy spoken by Southern Betsimisaraka people in Eastern Madagascar. ^[2]

Classification

Southern Betsimisaraka is an Austronesian language part of the Central-Eastern Malagasic branch of Malagasy.

Geographical distribution

The Southern Betsimisaraka dialect is spoken in the regions of Atsinanana, particularly in Mahanoro District, Marolambo District, and Vatomandry District. It is also found in the Alaotra-Mangoro region, specifically in the Anosibe An'ala District, as well as in northern Vatovavy, notably in the Nosy Varika District. ^{[3] [4]}

Vocabulary

Southern Betsimisaraka Vocabulary Compared with Standard Malagasy

#	Gloss	Malagasy standard	Southern Betsimisaraka
Numbers
1	One	Iray / Isa	Iraika / Isa
Pronouns
2	I / Me	Izaho	Izaho
3	We (exclusive)	Anay	Aney
4	We (inclusive)	Isika	Antsena
5	They / Them	Ireo / Zareo	Zarô / Zare
Quantifiers / Determiners
6	Each / Every	Tsirairay	Tsirekireky
Places & Direction
7	From	Avy	Avy
8	Here	Eto	Aketo / Etoagna
9	Where	Aiza	Akeza
10	In	Tany / Any	Takagny / Akagny
11	Far	Lavitra	Alavitra
People & Family
12	Man	Lehilahy	Lilahe
13	Woman	Vehivavy	Viave
14	Grandfather	Raibe / Papa be	Papa by
15	Grandmother	Renibe / Mamabe / Nenibe	Mamaby / Bebe
16	Father	Ray / Papa	Papa / Iazagna
17	Mother	Mama / Neny	Mama / Niny
18	Family (his/her/their)	Fianakaviany	Fianakaviane
19	Priority	Laharapahamehina	Laharapahamehigna
Animals & Nature
20	Snake	Bibilava	Fomba
21	Cow	Omby	Aombe
Days of the Week
22	Monday	Alatsinainy	Alatsinena
Verbs / Actions
23	Burned	May	Kila

References

1. "People Group: Southern Betsimisaraka". Joshua Project. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
2. "Betsimisaraka, Southern". Ethnologue. SIL International. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
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. 7. The map is placed before the numbered pages.
4. 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.