Moments in Malagasy Part 3

Back from a blog hiatus, I thought it would be good to restart things with another dose of Malagasy language quotes. As usual, happy to be corrected by genuine Malagasy speakers.

Sticking Out Like The Proverbial

The creative use of words is a form of art in Madagascar, ranging from poetry (hain-teny), structured public speaking (kabary – more on that below!) and cultural myths (angano). In particular, and much like other African cultures, Malagasy adore using proverbs (known as Ohabolana). The word ohabolana comes from two Malagasy word – ohatra, which means “example”, and volana, meaning “speech”. As you might expect, the phrasing of the proverb can be cryptic, especially for cultural outsiders like me. It’s also true that in some cases of Malagasy proverb, context is king, and the particular interpretation is discerned based on the circumstances in which the proverb is being delivered. It reminds me of the paradoxical wisdom of Proverbs 26:4-5:

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Essentially these two combine to form another proverb – it is good for us to wisely balance whether to confront a fool or ignore him. Many Malagasy proverbs should also be applied in the same way, according to the context.

In addition, I’ve found that the wisdom found in Malagasy proverbs have close similarities to UK sayings. For example:

Proverb no. 1              Aleo misoroka toy izay mitsabo.

Literal Translation:   It is better to avoid than to treat

English equivalent:  Prevention is better than cure/It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Proverb no. 2                  Ny be no basy.

Literal Translation:   The many are guns

English equivalent:  There is strength in numbers.  

Here are a few of my favourite proverbs, from the poignant to the slightly ridiculous:

Tsihy be lambanana ny ambanilantra

All who live under the sky are woven together like one big mat.

Aza mitsipa-doha laka-nitana

Do not kick away the canoe which helped you to cross the river.

Raha olona iray no tsy tia ahy, mitoto koba aho hatavy; fa raha ny be sy ny maro no tsy tia ahy, hisotro tsingala aho ho faty

If one person doesn’t like me, then I will eat koba (a Malagasy snack) and get fat. If many don’t like me, then I will drink poison and die.

Fitia tsy mivaly mahafohifohy saina

Unrequited love leaves one in a state of embarrassment.

The Malagasy Bible

The first Protestant missionary to Madagascar, David Jones, was a keen linguist. His work in orthography allowed him and fellow missionary David Griffiths to translate the Bible into Malagasy. He is still honoured with the title Jaonjilava, "the great Jones.” Beginning in 1822, the missionary band worked tirelessly to translate the Scriptures, until the first Malagasy Bible was produced in 1835. It was revised after the Great Persecution, and many Malagasy still used the 1865 revision today.

However, the language of the Malagasy Bible is quite archaic, akin to the King James Version in English. Whilst subsequent updated translations have attempted to modernise the language it uses, older words are still used. It has been commented locally that this makes the Bible harder to read for the Malagasy layman. Here are a few examples:

English word: Fish

Malagasy Translation in Scripture: Hazandrano

Modern Malagasy equivalent: Trondro

English word: Space (expanse)

Malagasy Translation in Scripture: Habakabaka

Modern Malagasy equivalent: Toerana

English word: Secretly (in the dark)

Malagasy Translation in Scripture: An-tsokosoko

Modern Malagasy equivalent: Miafina

English word: Repaid, rewarded, retaliated

Malagasy Translation in Scripture: Nanody

Modern Malagasy equivalent: Namaly

There are also alterations to some pronouns. For example, the third person plural pronoun (they) is izy ireo, but the Malagasy Bible uses the third person singular (he/she) izy. In addition, the second person singular pronoun (you) to describe God would be a simple Ianao, but the Malagasy Bible uses the archaic Hianao. This is true also for the second person plural – ianareo becomes Hianareo.

There are notable textual differences between the Catholic and Protestant Bibles in Malagasy. Many books of the Bible have different translations, for example:

English	Protestant	Catholic
Isaiah	Isaia	Izaia
Micah	Mika	Mikea
Titus	Titosy	Tito
Hebrews	Hebreo	Hebrio
Revelation	Apokalipsy	Apokalipsa

Key characters and places of the Bible are also translated differently, including Jesus!

English	Protestant	Catholic
Jesus	Jesosy	Jesoa
Isaac	Isaka	Isaaka
Canaan	Kanana	Kanaana

The Baiboly Dikanteny Iombonana Eto Madagasikara (DIEM) has attempted to draw a compromise between the Catholic and Protestant Scriptures by going back to the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and identifying translations that would fit those words most closely. They do lean towards the Catholic identification of the words, and retain the Apocrypha in their Bibles, but these are their changes to some of the previous examples:

DIEM	Protestant	Catholic
Romanina (same as Catholic Bible)	Romana	Romanina
Genesy	Genesisy	Jenezy
Itsehaka	Isaka	Isaaka
Kanahana	Kanana	Kanaana
Johany	Jaona	Joany

I hope to delve deeper into both Malagasy proverbs and Malagasy Biblical language in future posts. Until then, here is one final proverb celebrating language:

Ny teny toy ny atody: raha foy manan’elatra.

Words are like eggs: when they are hatched they have wings.