Tanosy dialect

Tanosy is a dialect of Malagasy^[2] spoken by Tanosy people in South-eastern Madagascar.^[3][4]

Tanosy dialect belongs to the Austronesian language family and part of Southern malagasy subgroup.^[5]

Tanosy is spoken in the Anosy region, especially in the Taolanaro District, and is the primary dialect spoken in the city of Fort-Dauphin.^[6] A community of Tanosy emigrés also exists in Bezaha, located in Atsimo-Andrefana, where their dialect is influenced by neighboring Mahafaly and Bara.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.

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.^[9]