334 
MADAGASCAR. 
and which was considered a triumph of oratory 
and shrewd common-sense. In this way he is 
credited with having on more than one occasion 
saved the country from anarchy and confusion, 
and possibly also his own life. 
In reading Malagasy it will be noticed— 
1. That all the words end with a vowel. 
2. There is no use of the w, q, or u. 
3. The vowels are a , e, i, o, y . 
4. A is pronounced as ar, o as oo, e as a, i as e. 
5. Y is pronounced with an e sound short. 
6. Thus ctva is pronounced arvar, osy as oosy, 
fa as far, ny as ne. 
7. The pronouns are : Singular— oho, I; hia- 
nao, you ; izy, he, she, or it. Plural— hianareo , 
you; izareo, they. 
8. The verb precedes the noun, as marary alio, 
I am sick ; faly hianao, you are glad ; tezitra izy , 
he is angry. 
9. The adjective follows the noun, as ondry 
fotsy , w r hite sheep ; rano mainty, black water; 
ahitra maitso, green grass. 
10. A statement is emphasised by a repetition 
of the word, as sasatra dia sasatra alio, I am 
very tired. 
11. The prefix Ra changes an ordinary word 
into a proper noun very often, as Rabodo (child); 
Ravonjy (helper); Ramaniraka (messenger); Ra- 
sampy (idol). 
