French remains the most widely spoken foreign language here in Madagascar. But that could change in the not too distant future. Daily newsletter Receive essential international news every morning. The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore. Listen to RFI. On social networks. Listen to RFI Applications.
Who are we? Paris attacks trial. The nation has a population of over The country is a Francophone nation and has Malagasy and French as the official languages. Malagasy is the most popular language in Madagascar with the majority of Madagascar residents being conversant with the language. The constitution of Madagascar established Malagasy as one of the two official languages in the country, the other being French.
However, the Constitution made no provisions concerning the official status of Malagasy language with the language maintaining its status albeit as a de facto. The Constitution reinstated Malagasy as one of three official languages in Madagascar with the language also becoming the national language of the country. There were an estimated 18 million native Malagasy speakers in Madagascar in Malagasy is the Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian language group.
The language is more closely related to native languages spoken in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia and is distinct from native languages used in neighboring African countries such as Mozambique and South Africa. Both were named official languages of the newly established Malagasy Republic in the first Constitution of In , the Constitution named English as an official language as well; however, this decision was reversed during a referendum held in Malagasy is by far the most widely spoken language.
Nevertheless, many people involved in the tourism industry speak some English, while visitors with a good understanding of French will be at an advantage in making themselves understood.
Several different dialects of Malagasy are spoken in Madagascar, though all of them are mutually intelligible. They can be divided geographically into two groups: the five Eastern dialects spoken in the central plateau and much of northern Madagascar and six Western dialects predominantly spoken in the southern half of the island. Of all the Malagasy dialects, Merina is considered the standard and is generally understood throughout the country.
Malagasy is part of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family of languages, and is most similar to languages spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. This makes the island unique from the East African mainland , where Bantu of African origin languages dominate.
The reason for this is that Madagascar was first settled by traders from maritime Southeast Asia who arrived in outrigger canoes between B. The Malagasy language evolved with exposure to other settlers and traders and was particularly influenced by the Bantu migrants who began to arrive from East Africa in the 9th century. Madagascar continued under French rule for over 60 years, only gaining full independence again in Malagasy is the lingua franca in Madagascar, and is spoken as a first language by most Malagasy people.
In public schools, it is used as the language of instruction for all subjects up to grade five; and then for history and Malagasy language lessons thereafter. In Madagascar, French is used as the medium of instruction for higher grades and is spoken primarily by the educated population as a second language. It is frequently used in business. Globally, French is an official language in 29 countries , is the fifth most spoken language in the world , and has approximately million speakers worldwide.
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