Antaimoro or Antemoro is a dialect of Malagasy spoken by Antemoro people in the ex-region of Vatovavy-Fitovinany.
Classification Antemoro is part of the Austronesian language family, within the Central-Eastern Malagasic branch. It is further classified under the Plateaux Malagasy alongside Merina,Sihanaka, Antambahoaka and Antefasy.
Geographical distribution The Antemoro dialect is primarily spoken in the Fitovinany region of southeastern Madagascar, particularly in the districts of Manakara-Atsimo and Vohipeno. It is also spoken in the southern part of the neighboring Vatovavy region, including several communes such as Namorona, Sandrohy, and Vatohandrina. The map is placed before the numbered pages.
Characteristics
The Antemoro dialect is closely related to the Antaifasy dialect, with only minor phonological and lexical differences. One distinctive feature is the use of suffixes such as -tra and -gna in Antemoro, compared to variations like -gny in Antefasy. For example, the verb "to talk" is rendered as mikoragna in Antemoro, while in Antefasy it appears as mikoragny. Additionally, certain vocabulary items differ; for instance, the word for "sword" is sabatry in Antefasy and sabatra in Antemoro. Despite these differences, the dialects remain mutually intelligible to a high degree.
+ Lexical Comparison between Antefasy and Antemoro Dialects Gloss Antefasy Antemoro one raiky raika I iaho iaho me anaha anaha we (inclusive) atsika atsika we (exclusive) ihay / ahay ihay / ahay they/them indreo indreo only avao avao also koa koza all aby/rehetra aby/rehetra to tell mizaka / mitantara mizaka / mitantara above ambony ambony now amizao amizao dear ingaha ingahy the / that gne / e gny even ndre ndre even if ndre da ndre da
Vocabulary Numerals English Standard Malagasy Antaimoro One Iray/Isa Raika/Isa Two Roa Roa Three Telo Telo Four Efatra Efatra Five Dimy Dimy Six Enina Enina Seven Fito Fito Eight Valo Valo Nine Sivy Sivy Ten Folo Folo Hundred Zato Zato Thousand Arivo Arivo Ten thousand Iray halina Ray haligny One hundred thousand Iray hetsy Ray hetsy One million Tapitrisa Tapitrisa
Animals English Standard Malagasy Antaimoro Animal Biby Biby Bird Vorona Vorogny Duck Ganagana Ganagana Chicken Akoho Akoho Goose Gisa Gisa Cow Omby Aomby Sheep Ondry Ondry
Direction English Standard Malagasy Antaimoro North Avaratra Avaratry South Atsimo Atsimo East Atsinanana Atsignanagna West Andrefana Andrefagna
Time English Standard Malagasy Antaimoro Day Andro Andro Today Anio/Androany Androany Yesterday Omaly Omaly Tomorrow Rahampitso Omaray/Ampitso Month Volana Volagna Year Taona Taogna
Writing System The Antemoro dialect is one of the Malagasy varieties that were historically written using the Arabic-derived Arabico-Malagasy script, alongside that of the Antambahoaka and Tanosy. This script, known as *Sorabe* ("large writings"), was primarily used for magical and divinatory purposes.
In the early 19th century, during the reign of King Andrianampoinimerina (c. 1800–1804), two Taimoro sages from the southeast, Andriamahazonoro (d. 1838) and Ratsilikaina, were summoned to the Merina capital to inaugurate a royal palace school. By 1817, they had introduced the Sorabe script to five or six royal children, including the future king Radama I.
Before ultimately deciding to adopt the Latin alphabet for the translation of the Bible, the first English Protestant missionaries in Madagascar considered using the Arabico-Malagasy orthography of the Taimoro people. They studied the script and discussed this possibility with King Radama I, before jointly opting for the Latin alphabet as the basis of the new standardized writing system.
See also Kalamo tetsitesy, an Arabic based pigdin used in Antemoro community References