| Mahafaly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native to | |
| Region | Atsimo-Andrefana region, southwest Madagascar |
| Ethnicity | Mahafaly people |
Native speakers | 472,0001 |
Austronesian
| |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tdx |
| Glottolog | maha1309 |
| Linguasphere | 31-LDA-cb |
Mahafaly is a dialect of the Malagasy language23 spoken by the Mahafaly people in the Atsimo-Andrefana region of southwestern Madagascar.4
Classification
Mahafaly belongs to the Austronesian languages family under the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch, within the Barito languages group. It is classified as a Southern Malagasic dialect alongside Southern Sakalava,Tandroy, Vezo, Masikoro and Karimbola.5
Geographic distribution
Mahafaly is spoken by approximately 472,000 people in the arid southwest of Madagascar, mainly in the Atsimo-Andrefana region.6
References
References
- "Mahafaly in Madagascar". Joshua Project. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
Population 472,000
- Grimes, Barbara F. (2000). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (14th ed.). Summer Institute of Linguistics. p. 293. ISBN 9780883128152.
- McElroy, Colleen J. (1999). Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar. University of Michigan Press. p. xxii.
- Ferrand, Gabriel (1903). Essai de phonétique comparée du malais et des dialectes malgaches : thèse pour le doctorat d'université (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux, Libraire-Éditeur. p. XXXIX.
- Bright, William (1992). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. p. 205. ISBN 9780195051964.
- Molet, Louis (1957). Petit guide de toponymie malgache (PDF) (in French). Tananarive: Scientific Research Institute of Madagascar, Department of Human Sciences. pp. map (unnumbered) + p. 7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) The map is placed before the numbered pages.