How did Bantu languages influence Malagasy?

Although Madagascar is geographically near Bantu-speaking Africa, the Malagasy language is fundamentally classified as a member of the Western Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, rather than a Bantu language.312

Despite this primary classification, Bantu languages have significantly influenced Malagasy over time. This influence is evident in several ways:

• Vocabulary: The language incorporates a number of loanwords of Bantu origin.32
• Linguistic Structure: Malagasy contains phonetic and grammatical modifiers derived from Bantu languages.12
• Ubiquity: These Bantu elements are not isolated to specific regions; they are present in every dialect of Malagasy and appear to have been established for a considerable period.32

This linguistic blending reflects the broader history of the Malagasy people, who represent a unique cultural synthesis of Asian and African origins.31