Lara Stapleton posted to Facebook a trailer for a movie about Madagascar playing at BAM this weekend and it reminded me that years ago, before the internet was as sophisticated as it is, I stumbled across words in Malagasy, the (a?) principle language of Madgascar. Some of the words had a remarkable resemblance to my parents’ language, Ilokano, the numbers in particular. They’re both Austronesian languages, so linguists, I guess, have identified some relationship, but I certainly haven’t been taught the specific histories (trade routes, etc.) that connect Madagascar and the Philippines.
Here are the languages (and English) counting to ten:
one (english), ray (malagasy, maysa (ilokano)
two, roa, dua
three, telo, tallo
four, efatra, uppat
five, dimy, lima
six, enina, innem
seven, fito, pito
eight, valo, walo
nine, sivy, siam
ten, folo, sangapulo