Tanosy is a dialect of Malagasy spoken by Tanosy people in South-eastern Madagascar. The map is placed before the numbered pages.
Classification Tanosy dialect belongs to the Austronesian language family and part of Southern malagasy subgroup.
Territorial range Tanosy is spoken in the Anosy region, especially in the Taolanaro District, and is the primary dialect spoken in the city of Fort-Dauphin. A community of Tanosy emigrés also exists in Bezaha, located in Atsimo-Andrefana, where their dialect is influenced by neighboring Mahafaly and Bara.Jaovelo-Dzao, Robert. Madagascar: ethnies et ethnicité. Ambozontany: Éditions Ambozontany, 2004, p. 146. Characteristics
The Tanosy dialect exhibits distinctive linguistic features, many of which are shared with both Southern and Southeastern Malagasy dialects.
One notable characteristic is the omission of the final -na in trisyllabic words. For example, vola is used instead of volana (month), toèra for toerana (place), and sofy for sofina (ear). Likewise, mijanona (to stop) becomes mijano.
There is also a tendency to substitute the consonant l for d, as seen in examples like valy for vady (spouse), and malio for madio (clean).
The consonant v may be replaced by b, a feature found in forms such as mivoaka for miboaka (to get out).
Words ending in -tra are often transformed into -tsy, a common phonological pattern in southern Malagasy varieties. For instance, mahafantatra (to know) becomes mahafantatsy, manolotra (to present) becomes manolotsy, and efatra (four) becomes efatsy. Similarly, lavitra (far) becomes lavitsy.
In the Tanosy dialect, the suffix -ka regularly shifts to -ky, a trait it shares with other southeastern varieties. Examples include mangataka (to ask) becoming mangataky, tafavoaka (successful) becoming tafavoaky, and ravaka (necklace) becoming ravaky. In some cases, the -ka is dropped altogether, as in fasika (sand), which becomes fasy.
Unlike many other southern dialects, the consonant z is rarely dropped in Tanosy. Words such as izaho (I) and izy (he/she) remain intact. Some partial z-reduction is found, such as aiza (where) becoming eza, but words like iza (who) remain unchanged. This stands in contrast to dialects such as Bara, which uses ahay for izahay, and Tandroy, which substitutes ihe for izy. Other dialects like Masikoro, Southern Sakalava, and Bara use ihy instead of izy. In Tanosy, however, the z is retained, and forms like izaho are not reduced to iaho.
Another distinguishing feature is the preservation of the consonant s following t, which is often dropped in other southern dialects. For example, while some dialects change ratsy (bad) to raty and vitsika (ant) to vitiky, Tanosy maintains the original forms: ratsy and vitsiky.
Additionally, number counting in the Tanosy dialect sometimes follows a left-to-right (largest to smallest unit) structure, similar to European languages. For instance, the number 14,850 (listen to first audio) is expressed as:
Ray aly sy efatsy arivo sy valonzato sy dimampolo
This contrasts with Standard Malagasy, which counts from smallest to largest unit (right to left):
Dimampolo sy valonzato sy efatra arivo sy iray alina
This counting order is characteristic of both Northern and Southern Malagasy dialects, but it is generally absent in the Central-Eastern Malagasy group, to which Standard Malagasy belongs.
+ Lexical Comparison Between Tanosy And Neighbouring Antesaka and Antefasy # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy Antesaka Antefasy 1 Few Vitsy Vintsy Vitsy Vitsy 2 Road Lalana Lala Lala Lalagny 3 Smart Mahiratra Mahiratsy Mahiratry Mahiratry 4 Only Ihany Avao Avao Avao 5 Night Alina Aly Aly Aligny 6 Cold Mangatsiaka Manara Manara Mangatseky 7 Messy Mikorontana Mikoronta Mikoronta Mikorontagny 8 Sharp Maranitra Marangitsy Marangitry Marangitry 9 Ghost Angatra Angatsy Angatry Angatry 10 To animate Manentana Magnenta Magnenta Magnentagny 11 To return something Mampody Magnampoly Magnampody Magnampody 12 To look for Mitady Mitalia Mitady Mitady
Vocabulary
+ Numbers # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 One Iray / Isa Raiky / Isa
+ Pronouns # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 You (plural) Anareo Andrareo 2 We / Us Isika Atsika
+ Articles # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 The Ny Gny 2 That / Who / Which No / Izay Gny 3 From Avy any Lahatè
+ Possessive Pronouns # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Mine Anahy Anahy 2 Yours (singular) Anao Anao 3 His / Hers Anazy Anazy 4 Ours (inclusive) Antsika Atsika 5 Ours (exclusive) Anay Anzahay 6 Yours (plural) Anareo Anareo 7 Theirs Azy ireo An’ireo
+ Abstract Nouns # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Suffering Fijaliana Fijalia 2 Wife / Husband Vady Valy 3 Angel Anjely Ajely
+ Animals # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Sheep Ondry Agnondry 2 Cow Omby Agnomby
+ Tools # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Knife Antsy Mesa
+ Time # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Week Herinandro Erignandro 2 Year Taona Tao
+ Economy # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Tax Hetra Vilin-doha
+ Actions # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 To seek Mitady Mitaly 2 To sit Mipetraka Mitoboky
+ Adjectives # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Smart Mahiratra Mahiratsy
+ Adverbs / Modifiers # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Only Ihany Avao 2 Still Mbola Mbo / Avao
+ Conjunctions # Gloss Standard Malagasy Tanosy 1 Because Satria Satria 2 But Fa Fa 3 Even Na Ndre 4 Even though Na dia Ndrefa 5 However Kanefa Kanefa 6 Later Avy eo Lafa avy eo 7 Here / There (general location) Eo Eo 8 Neither... nor... Tsy ... tsy koa Tsy ... tsy koa 9 Nonetheless Kanefa Kanefa 10 Or Na / Sa Na / Sa 11 So Dia Da 12 Too / Also Koa Koa 13 When Rehefa Nofa
Writing system
The Zafiraminia among the Tanosy were the ones who used Sorabe, an Arabic-derived script, to write manuscripts in the Tanosy dialect. These writings dealt with subjects such as geomancy, astrology, medicine, and other magical or divinatory practices. The use of Sorabe was shared with the Antambahoaka, who are also of Zafiraminia origin, and the Antemoro of the Agnakara clan.
References