It never ceases to amaze me how long words are in Malagasy language. Take the names of places. If you want to be able to read a village name, you have to literally stop your car to read the sign. There's no way one can absorb so many letters while driving by... unless you know the 'secret'.
It is actually quite simple, if you know a few basic words in Malagasy. For example:
Nouns:
Tanana Houses / village
Ambato Rock
Ambohi Hill (from: votrahitra)
Ala Forest
Nosy Island
Rano Water
Tani Land
Adjectives:
Mora Easy / calm
Be Big
Kely Small
Arivo Thousand / many
Tsangana Standing Up / elevated
Mahitsy Straight
Mena Red
Fotsy White
Manga Blue
Voila, now you can start combining. For example:
Ambatobe Big Rock
Ambatofotsy White Rock
Analamahitsy Straight Trees
Antananarivo Many many houses
Analakely Small forest
Antanimena Red Land
Antanifotsy White Land
Menabe Big Red
Ambatomistangana Elevated Rock
Analamanga Blue Forest
Ambohimanga Blue Hill
Ambohimangakely Little Blue Hill
Morarano Calm water
Nosy Be Big Island
It is actually quite simple, if you know a few basic words in Malagasy. For example:
Nouns:
Tanana Houses / village
Ambato Rock
Ambohi Hill (from: votrahitra)
Ala Forest
Nosy Island
Rano Water
Tani Land
Adjectives:
Mora Easy / calm
Be Big
Kely Small
Arivo Thousand / many
Tsangana Standing Up / elevated
Mahitsy Straight
Mena Red
Fotsy White
Manga Blue
Voila, now you can start combining. For example:
Ambatobe Big Rock
Ambatofotsy White Rock
Analamahitsy Straight Trees
Antananarivo Many many houses
Analakely Small forest
Antanimena Red Land
Antanifotsy White Land
Menabe Big Red
Ambatomistangana Elevated Rock
Analamanga Blue Forest
Ambohimanga Blue Hill
Ambohimangakely Little Blue Hill
Morarano Calm water
Nosy Be Big Island
So what does this one mean? |