So who's a Madagascan expert?

[Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker]

I saw a blurb on the cover of a recent “Christian Science Monitor” in which the writer was describing the feelings of some Malagasies on what might end up destroying their language: cell phones.

The article went on to describe that typical Malagasy language consisted of lots of circumlocution, which cell phones threatened to destroy as people would start speaking more quickly, etc.

It even used a word to describe it, something like “barajy” or “barajay.”

So. . .

Is anyone familiar with the speaking custom who can elucidate.

(This question is not about the threat that cell phones pose to that island nation–nor is it about Christianity, science, or giant lizards.)

[Hemlock]

I don’t understand why using a cell phone makes you talk faster - unless the per-minute charges are very high. Then, I hate cell phones.

The Malagasy language’s nearest linguistic relative is spoken in Borneo. The language is Malayo-Polynesian - like Malay, Filipino languages, Hawaiian, Maori, etc.

If Indonesians, Malays and Filipinos can become addicted to cell phones (which they have done) without their languages suffering, I’m sure Malagasy will be OK.

[chula]

First of all, I’m not an expert on Madagascar. It’s not clear from the post what the problem is. Unfortunately, I can’t link to the article, but this excerpt helps explain. It’s more a question of culture than of language per se.

A form of traditional Malagasy oratory, kabary is based on the unhurried telling of ancestral proverbs, metaphors, and riddles, frequently in a dialogue using call and response.

Originally used in public gatherings and political assem- blies of a pre-literate era, the form has since evolved and been popularized, but it has kept its specific rules. Today, despite the rising literacy rate and the familiarity with different manners of speech, kabary is still considered necessary for communication during ritual events, and is also used widely in regular, day-to-day talk…

One of the main rules of kabary is that the subject or point of the conversation can never be broached directly - and in some instances cannot be stated at all. During a funeral or condolence call, for instance, uttering aloud the name of the deceased is taboo. To express that someone is missed, Ranoe offers, one might begin with a story about the short grass on the highlands plateau that a great grandfather once trod upon. Then, the speaker might embark on a tale about the pearls of the deep sea and how grass and great grandfather and sea have become torn apart.

Kabary is spoken solely in the Malagasy language, which - like the Malagasy themselves - is a synthesis of Indonesian, Polynesian, African, Arab and European influences.