Vakinankaratra dialect

Vakinankaratra
Native to	Madagascar
Ethnicity	Vakinankaratra
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Indonesian Barito East Barito Central-Eastern Malagasic Plateau Malagasy Vakinankaratra
Writing system	Latin script (Malagasy alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mg
ISO 639-3	plt

Vakinankaratra is a dialect ^[1] of the Malagasy language spoken in the Vakinankaratra Region, after which it is named. ^[2] It bears significant resemblance to the Merina dialect.

Classification

Vakinankaratra is an Austronesian language part of the Plateaux branch of Malagasy language. ^[3]

Characteristics

Vakinankaratra dialect is a dialect very close to Merina but influenced by Betsileo.

Geographic distribution

The Vakinankaratra dialect is spoken in the Vakinankaratra Region, particularly in the districts of Antsirabe I District, Antsirabe II District, Betafo District, and Mandoto District. It is the popular dialect of the city of Antsirabe. ^[4]

Vocabulary

Distinct Vakinankaratra gloss from Merina (Standard Malagasy)

#	Gloss	Standard Malagasy	Vakinankaratra
Numbers
1	One	Iray	Iray/Raika
Pronouns
2	I / Me	Izaho / Aho	Za / A / Aako / Aago
3	He / She / Him / Her	Izy	Izy
4	We	Izahay	Anay
5	They / Them	Zareo	Reo
Demonstratives
6	This	Ity / Iry	Ity / Iry or Itikatra / Irikatra (rare)
7	That / There	Ary	Ary or Arikatra (rare)
8	That (far)	Iry	Iry or Irikatra (rare)
Location
9	Here	Aty	Aty or Atikatra (rare)
10	Where?	Aiza?	Aia?
11	How far?	Hatraiza?	Hatraia?
12	Upstairs	Efitra ambony	Am-batra
13	Downstairs	Efitra ambany	An-tany
14	Outside	Ivelan'ny trano	Andrindrina / Alatrano
15	Home	An-trano	An-drano
Questions
16	Who?	Iza?	Ia?
17	Where is he/she/it?	Mk aiza izy?	Aia ii?
18	Who is there?	Iza no ao?	Ia aby no ao?
Negation
19	Not	Tsy	Tsary / Tsa
20	Never	Intsony	Intsony / Tsotry [5]
Intensity
21	Really / Very	Tokoa / Tena	Tokoa / Tena or Tokoatra / Tegna (rare)
22	Cold	Mangatsiaka	Mangitsy/Mangatseka
23	Sad / Makes sad	Mampalahelo	Mahonena / Manena
Frequency
24	All	Avy	Aby
25	Fast	Haingana	Azela
26	Very fast	Haingakaingana	Azelazela
Daily Life
27	Family	Fianakaviana	Fianakavena
28	Child	Ankizy	Akizy
29	Question	Fanontaniana	Fanontanena
30	To swim	Milomano	Mandano
31	Ask the doctor	Dokotera anontaniana	Dokotera anontanena
32	I study	Mianatra zaho	Mianatra a
33	We sing Nej's songs	Mihira hiran'i Nej' zahay	Mihira hiran'i Nej' anay
34	History	Tantara	Tatara
Common Expressions
35	Good morning everyone	Manao ahoana daholo anareo	Manakory aby nareo
36	Hurry up!	Aza ela!	Azela!
37	Later on / then	Rehefa avy eo	Sefa hatreo
38	Bring it here	Hoento aty	Ôtaty
39	Come here	Avia eto / Avia aty	Ambia anga androky
40	Surprise expression	Hay ve!	Kay vi!
Objects
41	Firewood	Kitay	Kità
42	Shopping bag	Harona	Taty bazary
43	Bottle	Tavoahangy	Tavangy
Verbs & Motion
44	Take / Pick	Maka / Mangala	Maka
45	Sit down	Mipetraha	Mitôra
46	Sit / Be seated	Mipetraka	Mitôtra
47	Fall down	Mianjera	Mezera / Mikodia / Mikinjika
48	Boil / Burn	Mangotraka	Mandevy
49	Drop	Latsaka	Katraka / Potraka
50	Bump / Hit	Midona	Midotra
51	Run	Mihazakazaka	Mandainday
52	Leave / Exit	Miala	Miinga
53	Pour (rice, etc.)	Mandoatra	Alozina
54	To arrange / Make tidy	Ampirimina	Atsaraizina
55	To arrive	Tonga	Tamy
56	Pierced	Goaka	Tsobaka
57	I like / I love	Tiako	Tieko
58	I don't like him	Tsy tia azy izaho	Tsa te aniny a
59	To depend / rely on	Miankina	Miakina
Adjectives / Descriptions
60	Mean / Harsh / Cruel	Masiaka	Maseka
61	Bridge	Tetezana	Tatezana
62	Thanks / Thank you	Misaotra	Sôtry
63	He isn't ashamed of things like that (audio)	Tsy menatra izy amin'ny zavatra ohatr'izany	Tsa menatra izy amin'ny zavatra ohatrizany ⓘ

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References

1. Turcotte, Denis (1981). La politique linguistique en Afrique francophone: une étude comparative de la Côte d’Ivoire et de Madagascar (in French). Presses de l’Université Laval. p. 57.
2. "ethnicLists – Dictionnaire et Encyclopédie malgaches". motmalgache.org. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
3. "Plantal Language Resources". OLAC (Open Language Archives Community). Retrieved 15 July 2025.
4. Molet, Louis (1957). Little Guide to Malagasy Toponymy (PDF) (in French). Tananarive: Scientific Research Institute of Madagascar, Department of Human Sciences. pp. map (unnumbered) + p. 8. The map is placed before the numbered pages
5. Andriamise, L. (2015). "Le Vakinankaratra, parler hybride merina-betsileo" (PDF). Western Papers in Linguistics / Cahiers linguistiques de Western. Retrieved 28 June 2025.