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Introduction to the Hausa Language Gill Kimber Bedford College, London University During the 1970s and 80s I and my husband lived in Northern Nigeria for 10 years, where we learned to speak Hausa. Finding myself here today amongst such language experts, scholars and linguists, my hope is that you will find this interesting and different. Introduction to the Hausa people The Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. There are also significant numbers found in northern regions of Benin, Ghana, Niger, Cameroon and in smaller communities in West Africa. They speak the Hausa language which belongs to the Chadic language group, a sub-group of the larger Afro-Asiatic language family . They are famous traders. Kano is considered the center of Hausa trade and culture. Islamic Shari’a law is loosely the law of the Hausa states land and is understood by any full time practitioner of Islam, known as a Malam. Between 500 AD and 700 AD the Hausa people, who had been slowly moving west from Nubia, established a number of strong states in what is now Northern and Central Nigeria and Eastern Niger, and were able to emerge as the new power in the region. Closely linked with the Kanuri people of Kanem-Bornu (Lake Chad), the Hausa aristocracy adopted Islam in the 11th century AD. By the 12th century AD the Hausa began to become one of Africa's major powers. By 1500 AD the Hausa utilized the Arabic script to write their own language. This script, called ajami, was largely used for centuries and is still in use today. However, under British rule in the 1930s a Romanised script was adopted called Boko. The Hausa have compiled several written histories, the most popular being the Kano Chronicles. They have also written poetry and stories. The language is full of idioms and proverbs which are in common use, such that in any conversation one person will illustrate his point with the first half of the proverb, which his listener will finish. Idioms function as useful shorthand, giving insight into a people’s culture, attitudes, insights, values and assumptions. Examples of Hausa proverbs: ungula ba ta sauka banza the vulture does not descend without a reason lafiyar jiki arziki ne the health of the body is wealth giwa wani gari zomo new an elephant in one city is a rabbit in another 277 The Hausa remain in primary control over Niger and Northern Nigeria. Their impact in Nigeria is paramount to the state of the nation. They remain one of the largest and most historically -grounded civilizations in West Africa. Religion The Hausa have an ancient culture that had an extensive coverage area, and long ties to the Arabs and other Islamized peoples in West Africa. Islam has been present in Hausaland since the 14th century but it was largely restricted to the region's rulers and their courts. After the formation of the Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century Islam became firmly entrenched in rural areas. The Hausa people have been an important vector for the spread of Islam in West Africa through economic contact, diaspora trading communities, and jihads. Introduction to the Hausa language Geographic distribution Native speakers of Hausa are mostly to be found in the African country of Niger and in the north of Nigeria, but the language is widely used as a lingua franca (similar to Swahili in East Africa) in a much larger swathe of West Africa, particularly amongst Muslims. Dialects There are different Hausa dialects, but the Kano dialect is the 'standard' variety. The BBC offers a Hausa Service on its international news web site. Phonology: Consonants Hausa has between 23 and 25 consonant phonemes depending on the speaker. Glottalic Consonants Hausa has glottalic consonants (implosives and ejectives) at four or five places of articulation (depending on the dialect). They are written with modified versions of Latin letters. They can also be denoted with an apostrophe, either before or after depending on the letter: b' / ɓ, an implosive consonant, d' / ɗ, an implosive ts', an ejective consonant, k' / ƙ, an ejective 'y is a glottalized y, found in only a small number of high frequency words. Vowels Hausa has 5 phonemic vowel sounds and 2 lengths, giving a total of 10 vowel phonemes. Tones Hausa is a tone language. Each of its five vowels a, e, i, o and u may have low tone, high tone and falling tone. For representing tones the French accented vowels may be used: à è ì ò ù (low tone) 278 á é í ó ú (high tone) â ê î ô û (falling tone) It is essential to pronounce tones accurately as failure to do so will result in your talking about something you did not intend! For example, the very common word ‚wuya’ (low-high tones) in the expression ‚yana da wuya’ means ‚it’s difficult’. However, yana da wuya (high-low tones) means ‚he has a neck’. In standard written Hausa, tone is not marked. However it is needed for disambiguation and thus it is marked in dictionaries and other scientific works. There are also the two "r's" of Hausa A "tapped r" or "trilled r" The "retroflex flap". However, not all Hausa speakers distinguish these 2 sounds, especially those for whom Hausa is a second language. The pronunciation of f The Hausa sound written "f" is not pronounced like the "f" typical of European languages such as English or French. In Hausa, "f" is a bilabial sound. The lips are brought near each other and air is blown between them. For some Hausa speakers, the constriction of the lips is so tight that "f" sounds very much like English "p". The sounds f and h are also closely related in Hausa. For example, the common word ‚hat’ which is written ‚hula’ can also be pronounced ‚fula’. Geminate or "Doubled" Consonants Hausa has many words which contain geminate or "doubled" consonants. This is also true of Latinate languages. In Hausa, the doubling of the consonant does however create a different word: daba: parade c/w dabba: animal Gender of nouns Every Hausa noun is either masculine or feminine. Feminine nouns usually end in -a, e.g. yarinya 'girl', hula 'cap'. Masculine nouns usually end in sounds other than -a, e.g. yaro 'boy', zobe 'ring'. but there are always exceptions. Plurals of nouns Most Hausa nouns have a plural form. Unfortunately for those learning Hausa, there are no simple rules for knowing what the plural of a noun will be. Here are some commonly used nouns and their plurals. Singular mutum yaro yarinya Plural mutane yara 'yan mata 'person; people' 'boy; boys or children' 'girl; girls 279 mace namiji mata maza 'woman; wome or wives' 'man; men or husbands' Nouns Modified by Nouns Expressing Qualities Sometimes, Hausa uses nouns to modify other nouns, e.g., Singular Plural yaro mai wayo "boy of strength" yara masu wayo "children of strength" Numbers follow nouns, e.g., saniya d'aya "cow one." Hausa expresses most concepts involving "qualities" using nouns rather than adjectives, although adjectives do exist and are used. To use a quality noun as a modifier of another noun, the words are linked using mai 'possessor of...' for singular nouns (both masculine and feminine) and masu 'possessors of...' for plural nouns. Example: yaro mai wayo ‚clever boy’ – literally, boy possessor of cleverness: 2 nouns. A few expressions using quality nouns may take the form Noun-linker Quality noun. These are essentially fixed expressions, not a method of modification which can be used with just any noun. Example: ‚ruwan zafi’ – water (in its possessive form) followed by ‚heat’ ie literally, ‚the water of hotness’. And again, the tones are of paramount importance – people do not understand if one uses the right words with the wrong tones. Hausa Verbs Hausa verb tenses are quite different from those of Indo-European languages in which the tense form of the verb tells about the basic time of the event. For example, English marks tense by changes in the verb form (enter/entered/ entering) and/or addition of auxiliary verbs. In Hausa, for the most part, the verb itself does not change to mark tense differences. Instead different sets of subject pronouns are used, sometimes with the pronoun combined with some additional particle, such as preceding za, which marks future. Here are some examples English Hausa Past Yesterday by 3:00 Jiya da 3:00 (uku) sun shiga. (past context) they had entered. Tomorrow at 3:00 Past they will have Gobe da 3:00 sun shiga. (future context) entered. Yesterday at 3:00 Future they were about to Jiya da 3:00 za su shiga. (past context) enter. Future Tomorrow at 3:00 Gobe da 3:00 za su shiga. (future context) they will enter. Present Yesterday at 3:00 Jiya da 3:00 suna shiga. (past context) they were entering. Present Tomorrow at 3:00 Gobe da 3:00 suna shiga. (future context) they will be entering. 280 In other words, shiga does not change. What changes is the form of the pronoun and the expression of time. To BE and to HAVE Another very interesting aspect of Hausa is that it does not really possess either the verb ‘to be’ or the verb ‘to have’. Basic Identificational Sentences: NE and CE Hausa sentences that express identification of a person or thing use a word ce for a feminine singular and a word ne for both masculine singular and both plurals. In a simple statement, ne or ce is at the end of the sentence. (Although one might translate ne or ce as 'is', 'are', and so on, these words are NOT verbs – they don’t conjugate). Masculine noun Bala d'alibi ne. 'Bala is a student.' Feminine nouns Maria d'aliba ce. Maria is a student.' Plural nouns Bala da Maria d'alibai ne. 'Bala and students.' Maria are Whether ‚ne’ is masculine singular or a plural is determined by the form of the noun. Identificational Sentences with Pronouns Subject If the subject of an identificational sentence is a pronoun, the independent pronoun is used. So here are the independent pronouns: ni, kai, ke, shi, ita,mu, ku, su Examples: Ni d'alibi ne. Ni d'aliba ce. 'I am a (male) student.' 'I am a (female) student.' Kai shugaba ne. 'You (m) are the leader.' Ke malama ce. 'You (f) are a teacher.' Shi sarki ne. 'He is the chief.' Ita sarauniya ce 'she is the queen. . Mu d'alibai ne. 'We are students.' Ku malamai ne. 'You (pl) are teachers.' Su sarakuna ne. 'They are chiefs.' It's ...': Identificational Sentences with No Expressed Subject 281 A noun or pronoun can be used alone with ne or ce to mean 'its ...' or 'they're ...'. Ni ne. Kai ne. Shi ne. ' 'It's me.' (male speaking) 'It's you.' (speaking to a male) 'It's him.' Ni ce. Ke ce. Ita ce. 'It's me.' (female speaking) 'It's you.' (speaking to a female) 'It's her.' Mu ne. Ku ne. Su ne. 'It's us.' 'It's you.' (speaking to a group) 'It's them.' 'What Is It?', 'Who Is It?': Identificational Questions Basic identificational questions work like this: Menene wannan? What is it? Wacece wancan? Who (f) is that? Menene wadannan? What are these? If the name of the person or thing asked about is expressed, it usually follows the expressions above unless it is a pronoun, in which case it usually precedes. Negative Identificational Sentences To make the negative, ba with long vowel and low tone precedes the negated part and ba with high tone and short vowel follows it. Ne or ce follow the second ba. The ba...ba can surround just a noun or pronoun to mean 'it's not ...', 'he's not ...', 'she's not .. Example: Bala ba d’alibi ba ne – Bala is not a student. To HAVE Basic 'have' sentences use the continuative subject pronouns followed by da 'with' and the thing possessed. Example: ‚Ina da kudi’ – I have money. Literally: ‚I am with money’. Use of ‘With’ to Express Qualities As with ‚mai’, possessor of, the use of da usually links nouns where European languages use adjectives: Maria tana da kyau: Maria is beautiful: lit. Maria is (continuative form) with beauty. HE LORD’S PRAYER IN HAUSA 282 Concluding remarks You may be wondering, why are we hearing about the Hausa language at a conference dedicated to European languages? It’s a good question, and I would like to make some observations. English arguably is becoming the lingua franca of Europe, for all sorts of reasons. Worldwide it has exploded as a subject. English teachers are in demand as never before. There is no way of knowing how, or even whether, this trend will continue. For example, the rise of the giant China and its increasing influence on Europe and the west may well change the face of language- learning in the foreseeable future. Hausa, like English, is also a lingua franca. It is spoken as a second language by numerous tribes in the north of Nigeria. Each tribe has its own language, and tribes living only two or three kilometers from each other may not necessarily understand each other. Hausa, before the advent of the British, was the language of education, culture, government and trade. It was also the language associated with slavery, for the Hausa enslaved other tribes. It is still very much the language of trade in northern Nigeria, and without it people would be poorer and more ignorant. It is a Muslim language and the means of spreading Islam and Islamic education and culture. The British built many excellent schools, but they did not supersede the Muslim Koranic schools where children sit on the ground and learn the Koran by heart, chanting and swaying as they do so. It is also associated with Islamic law. Some of the Hausa states in 283 Northern Nigeria have imported Shari’a law, alongside the more westernised Nigerian legal system inherited from the British. The Hausa Muslim culture is very influential. Even Christians in the north will wear Hausatype clothing – the long robe over the trousers, with a hat set at an angle on the head. Christians imported many aspects of Hausa Muslim culture. So a woman may not look a man in the eye – it’s considered unacceptable. A woman will curtsey to a man, especially if he has some kind of rank, such as a priest. It is imperative that you give and receive things with your right hand – the left is considered dirty. Never sit with your legs crossed, and especially do not show the sole of your foot. There are many such Hausa customs that are taken for granted by the different tribes who have absorbed them uncritically. In the same way, cultures all over the world are having to ask themselves how the English language, associated with English culture and ways of thinking, has affected them. This is particularly true of religion. The British Empire can sometimes be resented in West Africa, like Communism in Eastern Europe. Although overall it was not harsh, and brought education, medicine and democracy, African academics and theologians are now discarding what they perceive to be the British cultural mindset, and working on more appropriately-African ways of thinking. What is very interesting is that, although a lingua franca exists along with its attendant powerful cultural influences, and although it may bring benefits in terms of education, finance and opportunity, and although it may be the language of government and even of slavemasters, it does not seem able to obliterate sub-cultures. Very often these smaller sub-cultures prove unexpectedly resistant. I believe that this is important in a world where the culture of globalisation gives the impression that it is only a matter of time before we all lose our cultural identities and start thinking, talking, looking and acting the same. For me, diversity is very important. Not only important, but vital. It enriches our lives. It is one of the reasons I enjoy living in other cultures. I learn so much. I am challenged in my views and opinions. I am changed – I hope, for the better. I become more tolerant, more able to see another person’s point of view. So the fact that sub-cultures are resistant to the dominant influence of the lingua franca and its culture is, for me, good news. The tribes of N Nigeria continue to speak their own language and, with the growth in confidence of Nigerian academia, their cultures are increasingly subjects of study and preservation. It’s consequently very interesting for me to observe a similar phenomenon in Romania. There were 50 years of near-slavery by Communism, with the imposition of the Russian language, the re-writing of history, and the suppression of culture and religion. And what is one of the first aspects of Romanian reaction to this, after the revolution? A renaissance of interest and pride in the Romanian cultural heritage, the teaching of traditional songs and dances to children in schools, national competitions to encourage excellence. A nation of poets, writers, musicians, linguists and philosophers. Take pride in your rich culture. Don’t lose it, like we English have almost lost ours, in the mistaken view that the lingua franca represents a better culture. A lingua franca has its uses. But it must be used as a tool, in the conscious knowledge of its limitations. In my opinion, a lingua franca, whether it is English, Hausa, French or Chinese, makes a good servant but a bad master. (copyright Gill Kimber to be used with permission [email protected]) 284