A History of the Hausa Language: Reconstruction and Pathways to the Present

Hardback

Main Details

Title A History of the Hausa Language: Reconstruction and Pathways to the Present
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Paul Newman
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:215
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 158
Category/Genrelinguistics
Historical and comparative linguistics
Phonetics and phonology
Grammar and syntax
ISBN/Barcode 9781009123105
ClassificationsDewey:493.72
Audience
General
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 31 March 2022
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

With more than sixty million speakers across Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Ghana Hausa is one of the most widely spoken African languages. It is known for its rich phonology and complex morphological and verbal systems. Written by the world's leading expert on Hausa, this ground-breaking book is a synthesis of his life's work, and provides a lucid and comprehensive history of the language. It describes Hausa as it existed in former times and sets out subsequent changes in phonology, including tonology, morphology, grammar, and lexicon. It also contains a large loanword inventory, which highlights the history of Hausa's interaction with other languages and peoples. It offers new insights not only on Hausa in the past, but also on the Hausa language as spoken today. This book is an invaluable resource for specialists in Hausa, Chadic, Afroasiatic, and other African languages as well as for general historical linguists and typologists.

Author Biography

Paul Newman is the world's foremost authority on the Hausa language. He is also an attorney with special interest in the intersection of language and law. He was a member of the first Peace Corps group to go to Nigeria back in 1961. He has held academic positions at Yale, Bayero University Kano, University of Leiden, and Indiana University. He has published over 20 books and was the founding editor of the Journal of African Languages.