amboa

Malagasy

Etymology

Borrowed from Swahili mbwa.

Malagasy is unusual among the Austronesian languages in that all its words for 'dog' are loanwords, derived from Bantu languages. All pre-colonial dogs in Madagascar are descended from dogs from mainland Africa. The initial Austronesian settlers of Madagascar certainly would have brought dogs with them, but these dogs may not have survived the voyage to Madagascar, or were genetically supplanted by mainland African dogs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈᵐbua/, [əˈᵐbuə̥]

Noun

amboa

1. dog

Synonyms

• alika