A concise grammar of the Malagasy language

With regard to the place which Malagasy occupies among languages, there can be no doubt at all that is belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian group, or that it seems to have the closest affinity to the Malay proper and the Eastern Polynesian languages; although it is still puzzling why the Malagasy people, who are chiefly of African origin (with the exception of the Hova tribe), should use a Malay language. But Malagasy is not only interesting due to this, it also bears the marks of strong foreign influences in its contemporary form: The influence of Arabic is seen in the names of the days of the week, the Hova names for the months and in many terms connected with dress, bed, money, musical instruments, etc. while the influence of English and French is seen in many abstract scientific, theological, and architectural terms, and in the names of modern weapons. One must not forget the influence of English Missionaries as well, who were working on reducing the language into its present alphabetic form and thus opened it further to Western influence (adapted from the preface). Contents: The Alphabet. Euphonic changes. Roots. Verbs (Passive voice, tenses of verbs). Nouns. Adjectives. Pronouns. Numerals. The article. Adverbs. Adjectives. Prepositions. Conjunctions. Interjections. Re-edition. Originally published 1883 in London. ISBN 9783862900589. LINCOM Gramatica 63. 75pp. + map. 2014.