Madagascar > General information > Tourist information > Language

Languages  In spite of a few dialectal variants, Madagascar has one national language, Malagasy. French and (since 2007) English are also official languages of Madagascar.   The acts of governments are published both in Malagasy and French. Many Malagasy speak French. Local newspapers in French are found in most important towns. English speakers, though, are more and more found in the tourism industry. Malagasy belongs to the Austro-Polynesian languages. It is of Indonesian origin since it is closely related to the Manjaan language spoken in Borneo. It has borrowings from Bantu languages.    Malagasy serves an unifying function for the different ethnic groups of the country.    Common phrases in Malagasy  Welcome : Tonga Soa  Hello : Manao ahoana  Good evening : Ahoana  How are you ? : Fahasalamàna ?  Goodbye : Veloma  Thank you very much : Misaotra betsaka  Yes Sir/ Madam : Eny tompoko Good night : Tafandria mandry  How much is it ? : Ohatrinona ?  What time is it please ? : amin’ny firy izao azafady ? One : isa/iray  Two : roa  Three : telo  Four : efatra  Five : dimy  Six : enina  Seven : fito  Eight : valo  Nine : sivy  Ten : folo  One hundred : zato  One thousand : arivo  One million : iray tapitrisa   Links • spoken languages in madagascar Links in other languages           (6) (1) Same category in a different destination Comoros Maldives Mauritius Mayotte Nepal Réunion Seychelles Sri Lanka Zanzibar