Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you learn only three words, choose
misaotra
(thank you), pronounced 'misowtr';
veloma
(goodbye), pronounced 'veloom'; and
manao ahoana
(pronounced roughly
'mannaowner'),whichisanall-purposegreeting.Ifyoucansqueezeinanotherthree,
gofor
tsara
(good);
azafady
(please);and
be
(pronounced'beh'),whichcanbeused-
sometimes ungrammatically, but who cares! - to mean big, very or much. Thus
tsara
be
means very good; and
misaotra be
means a big thank you. Finally, when talking
to an older person, it's polite to add
tompoko
. This is equivalent to Madame or Mon-
sieur in French. If your memory's poor, write the vocabulary on a postcard and carry
it round with you.
In a forest one evening, at dusk, I was standing inside the trunk and intertwining
roots of a huge banyan tree, looking up through the branches at the fading sky and a
fewearlystars.Itwasverypeaceful,verysilent.Suddenlyasmallmanappearedfrom
the shadows, holding a rough wooden dish. Old and poorly dressed, probably a cattle
herder, he stood uncertainly, not wanting to disturb me. I said '
manao ahoana
' and
he replied. I touched the bark of the tree gently and said '
tsara
'. '
Tsara
,' he agreed,
smiling.ThenhesaidasentenceinwhichIrecognised
tantely
(honey).Ipointedques-
tioningly to a wild bees' nest high in the tree. '
Tantely,
' he repeated quietly, pleased.
I pointed to his dish - '
Tantely sakafo?
' Yes, he was collecting wild honey for food.
'
Tsara. Veloma, tompoko.
' I moved off into the twilight. '
Veloma
,' he called softly
after me. So few words, so much said.
Another day, in Tana, a teenage girl was pestering me for money. She didn't seem
very deserving but wouldn't give up. Then I asked her in Malagasy, 'What's your
name?' She looked astonished, eyes suddenly meeting mine instead of sliding furt-
ively. 'Noro.' So I asked, very politely, 'Please, Noro, go away. Goodbye.' Non-
plussed, she stared at me briefly before moving off, the cringing attitude quite gone.
Byusinghername,I'dgivenherdignity.Youcanfindthatvocabularyinthelanguage
appendix on
Click Here
.
'What'syourname?'isprobablythephraseImostenjoyusing.Sayittoachildand
their eyes grow wider, as a timid little voice answers you. Then you can say '
manao
ahoana
', using the name, and you've forged a link. Now learn how to say 'My name
is...' - and you're into real conversation!
When I'm in Madagascar I still carry a copy of the language appendix in my bag.
It's dog-eared now, and scribbled on. But it's my passport to a special kind of contact
with friendly, gentle and fascinating people.
VEZO (FISHING PEOPLE)
They are not generally recognised as a separate tribe but as
a clan of the Sakalava. They live on the coast in the region of Morondava in the west to
Faux Cap in the south. They use dugout canoes fitted with one outrigger pole and a small
rectangularsail.Inthesefrailbutstablecrafttheygofarouttosea.TheVezoarealsonoted
