Hausa Language Program only $19.95

Learn Hausa Language

The Hausa Language Program contains 10 hours of audio, and one textbook in PDF file format with 419 pages.

Drills are recorded first for listening, then for familiarization through repetition, and finally for participation. During the participation step, when the student performs the required manipulation, his utterances are confirmed on the audio immediately following the space provided for his participation.

Drills are generally in two groups in any unit: a) variation drills on pattern sentences, which provide opportunities for the student to develop flexibility in the use of patterns already memorized, and b) grammar drills, which are intended to provide practice for the student in the operation of the patterns explained in the immediately preceding grammar notes.

The Grammatical Drill section of each unit gives exercises which are to furnish the student with considerable practice on the main point or grammar discussed in the unit. They also review earlier material. While extensive, they are not exhaustive, and may be supplemented when the text is used. Care should be taken not to introduce any new vocabulary or constructions in supplementary drill. Occasional new words are used in the drills of the later units. These, however, are introduced very sparingly. They will help accustom the student to hear new items which they must try to understand by context only. Translations of these are added on the side of the page, even when they are words which will occur later in the units.

About the Hausa Language

Hausa is the major language of the Northern Region of Nigeria. It is also spoken by scattered groups of Hausas and as a trade language in large areas of West Africa. Aside from its recognized importance as a practical means of communicatlon, it is also of interest from the purely linguistic point of view. It is the best known representatlve of the Chad branch of the Hamito-Semitic (Afro-Asiatic) family of languages. The other branches of this family are Berber, Egyptlan (extinct), Cushitic and Semitic. Hausa is thus genetically related to such well-known languages as ancient hieroglyphic Egyptian, Assyro-Babylonian (Akkadian), Hebrew and Arabic, as well as to others less familiar but also of importance, such as Amharic and Somali.

Hausa is the first language of the more than twelve million members of the Hausa tribe. It is spoken as a second language by perhaps ten to fifteen million non-Hausas having become the lingua franca of Northern Nigeria and contiguous ares of Niger Republic. Hausa is the largest and is generally regarded as the most important West African language.

Hausa is classified as a member of the Chadic group of the Afroasiatic family of languages. Hausa is, therefore, more closely related to Arabic and Hebrew than are most of the rest of the languages of sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there has been extensive Muslim influence on the Hausa language and culture and, as a result, considerable vocabulary borrowing from Arabic.

Hausa Pronunciation

The basic units of sound in a language are the phonemes. In Hausa there are 25 consonant phonemes, 5 vowel phonemes each occurring long and short, and 2 tone phonemes.

Hausa has an intonational system as well and involves the specifying and modification of the pitch levels employed in the tonal system. Hausa Intonation applies to whole utterances, not to single words.