Southern Sakalava is a dialect of
Malagasy spoken by the Sakalava from the region of Melaky to Atsimo Andrefana.
Classification
Southern Sakalava belongs to the
Austronesian language family and part of the Southern Malagasic subgroup.
Characteristics
Southern Sakalava is a Malagasy dialect close to
Vezo
The Vezo is a Sakalava Malagasy term for ''Bajo'', the semi-nomadic maritime or sea people from Central–Eastern Indonesia (esp. Flores Sea) who settled in southern Madagascar. They speak a variety of Malagasy language, Malagasy dialect continuum, ...
and
Masikoro
The Masikoro are a group of farmers and herders who inhabit areas surrounding the Mikea Forest, a patch of mixed spiny forest and dry deciduous forest along the coast of southwestern Madagascar in Toliara Province. Along with Vezo and Mikea, th ...
.
Geographic distribution
Southern Sakalava is a very popular dialect spoken in the city of
Morondava
Morondava (, from "long coast") is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morondava River at . Its population as of the 2018 census, was 53,510.
Population
The predominant ...
.
It has regional varieties in
Melaky
Melaky is a region in northwestern Madagascar. It borders Boeny Region in northeast, Betsiboka in east, Bongolava in southeast and Menabe in south. The capital of the region is Maintirano. The population was estimated to be 309,805 in 2018 wit ...
also known as Ambongo,
Menabe
Menabe is a region in western Madagascar, with its capital at Morondava. It covers an area of , and its population was 700,577 in 2018. The population mostly belongs to the Sakalava ethnic group. The region is named after the 18th-century Sakala ...
and Northern
Atsimo Andrefana
Atsimo-Andrefana (South West) is a region of Madagascar. It borders Menabe in north, Amoron'i Mania and Haute Matsiatra in northeast, Ihorombe and Anosy in east and Androy in southeast. The capital is Toliara and the population was 1,799,088 in ...
.
Vocabulary
See also
*
Northern Sakalava
*
Sakalava people
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar. They are primarily found on the western edge of Madagascar from Toliara in the south to the Sambirano River in the north. The Sakalava constitute about 6.2 percent of the total population, or abou ...
References
{{Languages of Madagascar
Malagasy language
Verb–object–subject languages
Languages of Madagascar