Malagasy language
Beginning in December 1820, LMS missionaries established workshops in Antananarivo to teach trades and technical skills, and developed a network of public schools. By 1822, LMS missionaries had successfully transcribed the Merina dialect of the Malagasy language using the Latin alphabet. This dialect, spoken in the central highlands around Antananarivo, was declared the official version of the Malagasy language that year – a status that the highlands dialect has retained ever since. The Bible, which was incrementally translated into this dialect and printed on a press, was the first book printed in the Malagasy language and became the standard text used to teach literacy.