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Sorabe:
a form of Malagasy writing with Arabic characters, considered sacred. It was used until the reign of Radama I
(1810 - 1828), who decided to replace it with the Latin alphabet.
Tanantaolo:
(Tanana aolo)
abandoned village.
Tangalamena:
local traditional religious leader, usually male, whose opinions are highly valued by the community. In principle,
each lineage along the east coast has its own Tangalamena.
Tany masina:
sacred place.
Tavy or Tevy:
slash and burn agricultural method.
Toaka or Tôka:
the generic name for an alcoholic spirit, usually manufactured locally.
Tranomanara:
literal meaning, ‘cold house’. It refers to a tomb or a small wooden box built on top of a tomb and used as a
shelter for ancestral spirits.
Tromba:
possession ritual, during which a person or persons go into a trance.
Vato:
megalithic monuments have several names in Madagascar:
- Tsangambato, a standing stone or stone erected to commemorate a person, an important event,
or to mark a boundary.
-
Vatolahy
, a male stone.
-
Vatovavy
, a female stone.
-
Vatomasina
, a sacred stone. This term may also be used to describe a row of stones.
Vazaha:
stranger or foreigner in the region.
Vazimba:
an ancient population. Believed to be the first inhabitants of certain regions of Madagascar. Myths and realities
Notes on the Malagasy terminology used
Words in Malagasy, except for proper names and names of place, are in italics and a translation is given in the glossary. In Malagasy, the «o» is pro-
nounced «oo» and the final «a» is invariably silent, except for rare exceptions.
Place names are given with either the ancient or modern spelling, e.g. Toamasina and Tamatave
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refer to the same city. The same is true of several
railway stations that took on the names of a few exceptional French from the time of the installation of the ‘East Coast - Tananarive’ railway line or
the TCE. After Madagascar’s political independence in 1960, the majority of these places were renamed.
Masse became Ampasimpotsy; Périnet became Andasibe; La Forêt was changed to An’Ala; Rogez became Andekaleka; Junck became Loharindava;
Mouneyres was changed to Fanasana; Geraud became Razanaka; Labourdonnais became Ambodivandrika; and Brickaville was changed to Vohibi-
nany. It took some time for the new names of the stations to be adopted. Nowadays, the only exception to this is Vohibinany, where residents continue
to use its old name, Brickaville.
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Tamatave is the original name of this city as it was so-called by Flacourt in the 17th century. Toamasina has only been used since the 19th century. It is therefore wrong to believe that Toamasina is the original
Malagasy name for the city and Tamatave is the name appointed by foreigners. Both names have been used throughout this book.
