structural:scholar_edition
Region specific variations

The two main dialects of Malagasy are easily distinguished by several phonological features.

Sakalava lost final nasal consonants, whereas Merina added a voiceless:

Final *t became - in the one but - in the other:

Sakalava retains ancestral *li and *ti, whereas in Merina these become (as in huditra 'skin' above) and:

However, these last changes started in Borneo before the Malagasy arrived in Madagascar.