The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Malagasy pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-mg}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

Consonants
IPA Orthography nearest English equivalent
b b bill
d d dill
d͡z j heads ~ hedge [1]
ɖʐ dr Jill ~ drill [2]
f f fill
ɡ g gill
h h hill ~ ill
k k skill
l l lill
m m mill
n n nil
ŋ song
p p spill
r r rill (trilled)
s s sill ~ shill [1]
t t still
t͡s ts cats ~ catch [1]
ʈʂ tr chill ~ trill [2]
v v villa
z z blaze ~ beige [1]
Stress
IPA Example Note
ˈ ˌ stress (placed before stressed syllable)
Vowels
IPA Orthography nearest English equivalent
a a fat ~ father
e e pet ~ plate
i i, y seat
o ô, ao, oa old
u o coot
Diphthongs
aj ai, ay eye; Danish ej
aw ao Lao, often low
ej ei, ey grey
uj oy phooey!; French grenouille
Reduced vowels
ə a sofa
ə̥ a paternal (whispered)
ʲ y, i Preceding consonant is palatalized, i.e. pronounced as if a 'y' followed it; similar to minion
ʷ o quick but not fully rounding the lips
ː (long vowel)
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 /ts dz s z/ vary between these sounds, depending on speaker and situation. The latter is especially common when followed by the vowel /i/, including its reduced form [ʲ]. That is, [sʲ] is generally closer to English shill.
  2. 2.0 2.1 As the Malagasy spellings ‹tr, dr› suggest, /ʈʂ ɖʐ/ may be released into a trill, depending on speaker and situation.