The same elderly couple from Midongy Atsimo discuss feeling trapped in their region, unable to visit other parts of Madagascar, even nearby areas like Farafangana and Vangaindrano.
Antesaka is a dialect of Malagasy belonging to the Central-Eastern branch of the language. It is grouped alongside other dialects within this branch, including those of the Plateau Malagasy (such as Merina and Antefasy), the Southern Betsimisaraka dialect, and the Sahafatra dialect.
Characteristics
Among the Central-Eastern Malagasy dialects, the Sahafatra dialect is considered the most closely related to Antesaka. The Antesaka dialect also exhibits notable similarities with the neighboring Antanosy dialect, largely due to their geographic proximity. These similarities include shared vocabulary and a common phonological feature: the suppression of the suffix -na or -gn, which is typically found in other Central-Eastern dialects.
The use of the suffix -na or -gn is characteristic of most Central-Eastern Malagasy varieties, but it is notably absent in Antesaka, Sahafatra, and Southern Betsileo dialects.
^Sibree, James (1877). South-east Madagascar: Being Notes of a Journey Through the Tanala, Taimoro and Taisaka Countries in 1876. Antananarivo: London Missionary Society. pp. Appendix C.
^Ferrand, Gabriel (1909). Essai de phonétique comparée du malais et des dialectes malgaches: thèse pour le doctorat d'université, présentée à la Faculté des lettres de l'Université de Paris (in French). Paris: Paul Geuthner. p. XXXIX.
