Hausa Language

Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast.

Hausa is a member of the Afroasiatic language family and is the most widely spoken language within the Chadic branch of that family. Ethnologue estimated that it was spoken as a first language by some 47 million people and as a second language by another 25 million, bringing the total number of Hausa speakers to an estimated 72 million.

In Nigeria, the Hausa-speaking film industry is known as Kannywood.

Classification

Hausa belongs to the West Chadic languages subgroup of the Chadic languages group, which in turn is part of the Afroasiatic language family.

Geographic distribution

Native speakers of Hausa, the Hausa people, are mostly found in southern Niger. The language is used as a lingua franca by non-native speakers in most of northern Nigeria, southern Niger, northern Ghana, northern Benin, northern Togo, southern Chad and parts of Sudan.

By country

Nigeria

In Nigeria, Hausa is dominant throughout the north, but not dominant in the states of Kwara, Kogi and Benue.
Cities in which Hausa is spoken include Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Daura, Gobir, Zaria, Sokoto, Birnin Kebbi, Gusau, Dutse, Hadejia, Bauchi, Misau, Gombe, Nafada, Maiduguri, Yobe, Yola, Jalingo, Jos, Lafia, Nasarawa, Minna, Kontagora, Lokoja, and Abuja.

Niger

In Niger, Hausa is spoken in the south, including the cities of Maradi, Diffa, Tahoua, Zinder, Tillaberi, Dosso, and Agadez.

Cameroon

In Cameroon, Hausa is spoken in the north, including the cities of Ngaoundere, Garoua, and Maroua.

Ghana

In Ghana, Hausa is spoken in the north. Cities where it is spoken include Tamale, Bolgatanga, and Wa.

Benin

In Benin, Hausa is spoken in the north. Cities where it is spoken include Parakou, Kandi, Natitingou, and Djougou.

Togo

In Togo, Hausa is spoken in the north. Cities where it is spoken include Sokode, Kara, and Dapaong.

Chad

In Chad, Hausa is spoken in the south. Cities where it is spoken include N'Djamena.

Sudan

In Sudan, Hausa is spoken in the states of Jazirah, Blue Nile, and Kordofan.

Dialects

Hausa presents a wide uniformity wherever it is spoken. However, linguists have identified dialect areas with a cluster of features characteristic of each one.

Traditional dialects

Eastern Hausa dialects include ''Dauranci'' in Daura, ''Kananci'' in Kano, ''Bausanci'' in Bauchi, ''Gudduranci'' in Katagum Misau and part of Borno, and ''Hadejanci'' in Hadejiya.

Western Hausa dialects include ''Sakkwatanci'' in Sokoto, ''Katsinanci'' in Katsina, ''Arewanci'' in Gobir, Adar, Kebbi, and Zanhwaranci in Zamfara, and ''Kurhwayanci'' in Kurfey in Niger. Katsina is transitional between Eastern and Western dialects. Sokoto is used in a variety of classical Hausa literature, and is often known as ''Classical Hausa''.

Northern Hausa dialects include ''Arewa'' (meaning 'North') and ''Arewaci''.

''Zazzaganci'' in Zazzau is the major Southern dialect.

The Daura (''Dauranchi'') and Kano (''Kananci'') dialect are the standard. The BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio France Internationale and Voice of America offer Hausa services on their international news web sites using Dauranci and Kananci. In recent language development Zazzaganci took over the innovation of writing and speaking the current Hausa language use.

Northernmost dialects and loss of tonality

The western to eastern Hausa dialects of ''Kurhwayanci'', Dam''agaram'' and ''Adarawa'', represent the traditional northernmost limit of native Hausa communities. These are spoken in the northernmost sahel and mid-Saharan regions in west and central Niger

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