Austronesian · ISO 639-3 xmw
Tsimihety Malagasy Language
Tsimihety Malagasy is an Austronesian language spoken by about 1.6 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Tsimihety Malagasy is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Tsimihety Malagasy
Language family
- Austronesian
- Malayo-Polynesian
- Basap-Greater Barito
- Greater Barito linkage
- Southeast Barito
- Malagasic
- North-Central Malagasic
- Northern Malagasic
- Tsimihety-Betsimisaraka
- Tsimihety Malagasy
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Tsimihety Malagasy language
Tsimihety Malagasy is spoken by about 1.6 million people, which makes it the 361st most spoken language in the world — just behind Malawi Sena (1.6 million) and ahead of Gun (1.5 million). It belongs to the Austronesian language family and, more precisely, to the Tsimihety-Betsimisaraka group within the Basap-Greater Barito branch.
Where is Tsimihety Malagasy spoken?
Tsimihety Malagasy is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Madagascar (1.6 million).
Tsimihety Malagasy is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Tsimihety Malagasy is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Northern Betsimisaraka Malagasy, Antankarana Malagasy, Southern Betsimisaraka Malagasy, Sakalava Malagasy, Tesaka Malagasy and Malagasy.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 xmw.
Frequently asked questions about Tsimihety Malagasy
How many people speak Tsimihety Malagasy?
Where is Tsimihety Malagasy spoken?
What language family does Tsimihety Malagasy belong to?
Is Tsimihety Malagasy an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.