foreign words (hôpitaly) and dialects (Tôlan̈aro). In standard Malagasy, ao or oa (as in mivoaka) is used instead. sometimes the single-letter words a and e are written â and ê but it does not change the pronunciation ◌̈ (diaeresis) is used with n̈ in dialects for a velar nasal . Examples are place names such as Tôlan̈aro, Antsiran̈ana, Iharan̈a, Anantson̈o. This can be seen in maps from FTM, the national institute of geodesy and cartography. ◌̃ (tilde) is used in ñ sometimes, perhaps when the writer cannot produce an n̈ (although ng is also used in such cases). In Ellis' Bara dialect dictionary, it is used for velar nasal as well as palatal nasal . Phonology Vowels After a stressed syllable, as at the end of most words and in the final two syllables of some, are reduced to . ( is spelled in such cases, though in monosyllabic words like ny and vy, is pronounced as a full .) Final , and sometimes final syllables, are devoiced at the end of an utterance. and are never reduced or devoiced. The large number of reduced vowels, and their effect on neighbouring consonants, give Malagasy a phonological quality not unlike that of Portuguese. is marginal in Merina dialect, found in interjections and loan words, though it is also found in place names from other dialectical areas. are diphthongs in careful speech, or in more casual speech. , whichever way it is pronounced, affects following as does. Consonants The alveolars are slightly palatalized. vary between and , and are especially likely to be the latter when followed by unstressed : Thus French malgache 'Malagasy'. The velars are palatalized after (e.g. alika 'dog'). is frequently elided in casual speech. The reported postalveolar trilled affricates are sometimes simple stops, , but they often have a rhotic release, . It is not clear if they are actually trilled, or are simply non-sibilant affricates . However, in another Austronesian language with a claimed trilled affricate, Fijian, trilling occurs but is rare, and the primary distinguishing feature is that it is postalveolar. The Malagasy sounds are frequently transcribed , and that is the convention used in this article. In reduplication, compounding, possessive and verbal constructions, as well as after nasals, fricatives and liquids, 'spirants' become stops, as follows: Stress Here, stressed syllables are indicated by grave diacritics , although these diacritics are normally not used. Words are