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Malagasy Alphabet and Pronunciation

If you're trying to learn the Malagasy Alphabet you will find some useful resources including a course about pronunciation, and sound of all letters... to help you with your Malagasy grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and memorize the sounds. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Malagasy. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!

Malagasy Alphabet

Learning the Malagasy alphabet is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. Without it, you will not be able to say words properly even if you know how to write those words. The better you pronounce a letter in a word, the more understood you will be in speaking the Malagasy language.

Below is a table showing the Malagasy alphabet and how it is pronounced in English, and finally examples of how those letters would sound if you place them in a word.

Malagasy AlphabetEnglish SoundPronunciation Example
a[a]as in father
b[b]as in bay
c[ʨ]ch as in chay
d[d]as in day
e[ɛ]as in elephant
f[f]as in fine
g[ɡ]as in gold
h[h]as in house
i[i]'ee' as in meat
j[ʥ]as in job
k[k]as in kitchen
l[l]as in life
m[m]as in man
n[n]as in nice
o[o]as in olive
p[p]as in pool
q[k]as in kiss
r[r]as in rice
s[s]as in smile
t[t]as in time
u[u]'oo' as in mood
v[f]f as in free
w[w]as in wind
x[ks]as in wax
y[j]as in year
z[z]as in Zulu
ngengas in hanging>
nynyeas in mañana
khkhaas in th German bach
sysyaas in shield
nngnngas in bingo

Malagasy Pronunciation

You saw how a letter is written and might be pronounced, but there is nothing better than hearing the sound of the letters in a video or audio. Below you will be able to hear how the letters above are pronounced, just press the play button:


The alphabet and its pronunciation have a very important role in Malagasy. Once you're done with Malagasy alphabet, you might want to check the rest of our Malagasy lessons here: Learn Malagasy. Don't forget to bookmark this page.

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