The Relationship Between Hausa and Monority Languages: Lexical and Syntactic Comparison of Lafia Hausa Variety

Citation: Sama’ila JIBRIN (2018). The Relationship between Hausa and Monority Languages: Lexical and Syntactic Comparison Of Lafia Hausa Variety. Yobe Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (YOJOLLAC), Vol. 6. Department of African Languages and Linguistics, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. ISSN 2449-0660

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HAUSA AND MONORITY LANGUAGES: LEXICAL AND SYNTACTIC COMPARISON OF LAFIA HAUSA VARIETY

Sama’ila JIBRIN

ABSTRACT

The Lafia Hausa variety is a unique regional variety in Nasarawa State. Although there are many Hausa varieties in Central Nigeria, but currently, the Lafia Hausa variety is gradually becoming a popular variety within Lafia and its surroundings. As usual, this type of variety has some distinct phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic features. The major objective of this study is to compare some lexical as well as some syntactic items in Lafia Hausa Variety with Standard Hausa for the purpose of identifying their differences and similarities. The paper identifies the effect of some Lafia minority languages on the use of Hausa Language in and around Lafia town and its surrounding villages. Finally, the study also identifies similarities and differences between the use of Immediate Constituents (IC) when comparing Standard Hausa sentences and Lafia Hausa sentences varieties.

 1.0 Introduction

Language is the vehicle for communication and social change. Language is parts of the social structure of our communities. O’Grady (2011) emphasizes that if language has a phonetic and phonological system, since it has words and sentences, it must also have a morphology and syntax, and since these words and sentences, have a systematic meanings, there must obviously be semantic principles as well. This paper considered some Lafia Hausa variety with a view of identifying their major differences lexically and syntactically when compared with standard Hausa. The paper assesses some selected words and sentences from Lafia Hausa variety and compared their lexical and syntactic equivalents in standard Hausa, with the major aim of identifying their grammatical differences. Although, their meanings are same but the structure of Lafia Hausa variety differ so much with that of standard Hausa. This is basically because the speakers of Lafia Hausa variety are mainly second language speakers (non- Hausa speakers), and the Lafia town is equally located outside the Hausa major cities like Zaria and Kano or Katsina.

1.1 Theoretical Framework

The Lafia Hausa variety is a distinct regional variety within the central Nigerian geo-political region. There are many Hausa varieties in the central Nigerian geo- political region such as the Plateau variety, the Jos-Bukur variety, the Lafia variety, the Keffi variety, and also, the Minna variety. These Hausa varieties attracted the attention of many Scholars such as Powlak (2002), Baba (2005), Sarvi (2005), Danbala (2012), Zaliha and Dan–Asabe (2012). The Lafia Hausa variety has distinct lexical, phonological, morphological and syntactic features, whenever it is compared with other Hausa major dialects. This paper will compare the lexical and syntactic features of Lafia Hausa variety with Standard Hausa for the purpose of identifying their differences. This work relied heavily on the above scholarly work to analyze the differences between the Lafia Hausa variety and standard Hausa.

1.2 The Lafia Town and Its Surroundings

Lafia town is the capital city of Nasarawa State of Nigeria. The city is located at about 234 kilometers south of Jos, the capital of Plateau State. Lafia town is surrounded by many local governments in Nasarawa state, and also Quam Pam Local government of Plateau State by the east (Ayih, 2008). Lafia town was established around 1780 by the Kanuri (Barebari) people who originate from Kanem Borno Empire (Echu et al., 1999).

The town was nicknamed “Lafia” which means peace, likewise, the other name “Barebari” is the Hausa name for Kanuri.

The dominant tribes that constitute the population of Lafia town and its surroundings are the Kanuris, the Eggons, the Migilis or Koros the Hausas, the Akyes, the Gwandaras, the Fulanis, the Alagos, the Yorubas and the Igbos (Sarvi, 2005). These tribes originally came from Local Governments like Doma, Nasarawa Eggon, and Obi, but had settled at Lafia town long ago. The Hausa people in and around Lafia town, coexisted with all other indigenous tribes using Hausa Language as a medium of communication. Gradually, Hausa Language therefore, became a lingua franca (language of communication) to the people of Lafia town. As a result, this type of Hausa usage gradually became a popular variety within Lafia and its surrounding villages. This is generally because the variety has some distinct phonological, morphological and syntactic features when compared with standard Hausa. This study will therefore, look at the lexical and syntactic features of Lafia Hausa variety for the purpose of identifying its linguistic peculiarities.

1.3 Hausa Language

Hausa word according to Adamu (1997, p. 17) means a name of a language, and owners of that language. The real owners of Hausa language are referred to as the Hausas. Hausa language according to Newman (2000, p. 1) is a language that is spoken by upwards of thirty five million speakers. Newman also observed that Hausa language is rapidly establishing itself as a mother tongue for many of the inhabitants, or if it is not replacing the indigenous languages, it is at least being used as a day-to-day basis as a lingua franca. In view of the large population of Hausa speakers in northern Nigeria, Jibrin (2006) observed that the language dominate all other languages in Northern Nigeria, mainly because the Hausa people used the language in their personal relationship, communication and commerce, in Northern Nigeria and southern part of Niger republic. In terms of usefulness of Hausa language, the language is used by most of the international radio stations like British broadcasting corporation (BBC), Voice of America (VOA), the China Radio (CR), France Radio International (FRI) and many others. Within Nigeria, Hausa language is also used by many local radio stations to broadcast news and for the purposes of information and orientation. Equally, the language is studied in most tertiary institutions in northern Nigeria and some international universities.

Considering the dialects of Hausa language, Musa (1997) classified the language into numerous dialects ranging from 2 to 7. These according to him, are Kananci, Katsinanci, Dauranci, Bausanci, Guddiranci, Sakkwatanci and Zazzaganci. These various types of Hausa dialects are still in use in different parts of Northern Nigeria today.

1.4 Methodology

The methodology adopted in conducting this research is a sampling technique. This is a method in which the researcher of this work listened attentively recorded many discussions with some Lafia Hausa speakers in Lafia town. After sampling many sentences, the researcher finally selected some Hausa lexical items and also some simple sentences among the Lafia Hausa variety. Finally, the researcher tried to analyze some of these lexical and syntactic items for the purpose of identifying their linguistics positions and also, to ease the teaching and learning of Lafia Hausa variety.

2.0 The Lexical Features of Lafia Hausa Variety

The meaning of language is described differently by many linguists. Fagge (2012, p. 1) described Language as the most frequently used and most highly developed form of human communication. He further described the function of Language, as a means which is frequently being used by human beings for the purpose of communicating ideas, emotions and desires. In describing the major components of language, O’Grady (2011, p. 254) observes that the syntactic component of any grammar must include at least two sub components. According to O’Grady the first is a lexicon, or Mental Dictionary that provides a list of the language’s words along with information about their pronunciations, their category and their meaning. The second sub component consists of what can be called computational system, by which we simply mean operations that combine and arrange words in particular ways. The Lafia Hausa variety is a regional variety. Regional variety of a language is described by Fagge (2012, p. 77) as a variety classified with reference to distance and time. This paper will look at some lexical and syntactic features of Lafia Hausa variety with the view of identifying their structural differences.

The lexical features of Lafia Hausa variety portray some significant linguistic differences such as composition of consonant and sometimes in their lexis structures as well as the tone partern of the Lafia Hausa when compared with standard Hausa. For example:

Lafia Variety	Standard Hausa	Gloss
Ámsín (noun)	Hàmsín (noun)	Fifty
Kàrkeé (adjective)	Qàrshée (adjective)	Last
Yìnaà (adverb)	Ìnaá (adverb)	Where
Túkún (adverb)	Yànzù (adverb)	Now
Hòkà (noun)	Hàuká (noun)	Madness
Yaùceé (conjunction)	Yàushè (conjunction)	When
Jé/Té (noun)	Tàfí (noun)	Go
Sìyaá (noun)	Sàyí (noun)	Buy
Káwwá (pronoun)	Koówáá (pronoun)	Everyone
Lókòcí (pronoun)	Loókàcií (pronoun)	Time
Nuúshiì (noun)	Náushiì (noun)	Blow
Yítá (pronoun)	Ítá (pronoun)	She
Meémaákoò	Mààimaákoò	Instead
Hálbiì (verb)	Hárbiì (verb)	Shoot
Fákàcì (noun)	Fágàciì (noun)	A traditional title
Né (pronoun)	Nií (pronoun)	Myself
Kaánaá (adverb)	Hákaà (adverb)	Exactly
Dáwwó (verb)	Daáwoó (verb)	Come back
Duú (adjective)	Dúkaá (adjective)	All
Káu (verb)	Káwoó (verb)	Bring
Gàlgádií (noun)	Gàrgaáxií (noun)	Warning
Shìggá (verb)	Shìgá (verb)	Enter
Dèliíliì (noun)	Dàliíliì (noun)	Reason
Fálkaà (verb)	Fárkaà (verb)	Wake
Hálsheé (noun)	Hársheé (noun)	Tongue
Sàiwaá (noun)	Tsàiwaá (noun)	Root
Shíddà (noun)	Shídà (noun)	Six
Hwádì (verb)	Faáxì (verb)	Fall
Húshií (noun)	Fúshií (noun)	Annoyance
Shínshìnà (verb)	Súnsùnà (verb)	To smell

 Some major differences in the above words items are words like qàrshé in Standard Hausa which is referred to as kárshé in Lafia Hausa variety. In the above example, the hooked velar consonant sound /q/ in standard Hausa is replaced by unhooked velar consonant sound /k/ in Lafia Hausa variety. Likewise, the word súnsùnà in Standard Hausa is referred to as shínshìnà in Lafia Hausa variety. In this other example, /s/ consonant sound in standard Hausa is now replaced by the /sh/ consonant sound in Lafia Hausa variety. So also, the first initial vowel sound /i/ in the standard Hausa word ítá, is replaced by a palatalized consonant sound /y/ which make the word to be pronounced as yítá in Lafia Hausa variety. Accordingly, the initial labiodental consonant sound /f/ in the standard Hausa word fáxì is replaced by the glottalized consonant sound /hw/ in Lafia Hausa variety which is now pronounce as fwádì in Lafia Hausa variety. Equally, the hook alveolar consonant sound /x/ in standard Hausa is replaced by the ordinary alveolar consonant sound /d/ in Lafia Hausa variety.

2.1 Syntactic Features of Lafia Hausa Variety

Hausa language according to Newman (2000, p. 1) is a straightforward SVO (subject-verb-object) language. Although the Lafia Hausa variety is a distinct variety but it displayed the same word of SVO pattern. This study will equally compare the basic word ordering of the sentences in Lafia Hausa variety as well as compare their basic differences in either word arrangements, or word formations.

The study of the structure and ordering of component within a sentence, according to Yule (1996, p. 100) is defined as the syntax of that particular language. Yule also stated that the word syntax originates from Greek which generally means ’setting out’ or ‘arrangement’ of words in sequence.

Syntax as described by Napoli (1996) is a description of the utterances of a native speaker and not of the non -utterances. Syntax simply means the study of the original utterances of native speaker whenever he or she is speaking.

Accordingly, in line with the arrangement of words in sentences formation, Watters (2000, p. 184) observed that in Africa, nearly all languages have basic word order that is fixed and not free. The subject and object occurred in fixed positions in relation to the verb in the basic word order. In determining the sentence of a language, the position of the subject (S) verb (V) and object (O) and many other language elements is of utmost importance. The sentences can either be simple declarative or otherwise. These syntactic requirements are what some linguists called the “basic constituents order’’ of every language. This study is based on the simple analysis of some Lafia simple Hausa sentences. The simple Hausa sentences according to Newman (2000, p. 718) is a simple tensed verbal sentence which consists of subject (subj) (which may be null), the person – aspect – complex (PAC) and the verb phrase (VP). The verbal phrase may optionally be followed by adverbial modifiers. Examples:

2.1.1 Syntactic Analysis

Lafia Variety	Standard Hausa	Gloss
Sún té kàsúwá.	Sún tàfí kàsúwá.	They went to the market.
Sún tè kàsúwá	Sún tàfí kàsúwá

 [sún] SBJ [tè]V [kàsúwá]N [sún]SBJ [tàfí]V [kàsúwá]N

Lafia Variety	Standard Hausa	Gloss
Yá sìyá kàré mè hòkâ.	Yá sàyí kàré mài hàuká.	He bought a mad dog.
Yá sìyá kàré mài hòká.	Yá sàyí kàré mài hàuká.

 [yá]SBJ [sìyá]V [kàré mài hòká]VP [yá]SBJ [sàyí]V kàré mài hàuká]VP

Lafia Variety	Standard Hausa	Gloss
Záinàb tánà shá zóbó.	Záinàb tánà shàn zóvò.	Zainab is drinking zobo.
Záinàb tánà shá zóbó	Záinàb tánà shàn zóvò

 [Záinàb]SBJ [tánà]PAC [shá zóbó]VP [Záinàb]SBJ [tánà]PAC [shán zóvò] VP

2.1.2 Some Comparative Sentences

Lafia Variety	Standard Hausa	Gloss
Zá kì té àngàné?	Iná zá kì tàfí?	Where are you going?
Múnã jíírá shì.	Múnà jíràn shì.	We are waiting for him.
Yá yí mínì tútùtú.	Yá yí mínì shìrírìtá.	He is naughty to me.
Mèné nè nákà à cíkí.	Bà rúwánkà à cíkí.	It does not concern you.
Yá búgà àlmájìrí.	Yá dòkí àlmájìrí.	He beat an almajiri.
Ká fító dàgà àngàné?	Ká fító dàgà ìná?	Where are you coming from?
Mù tàfí hó?	Mù tàfí kó?	Can we go?
Yá múnà kyàután kúdí.	Yá yí mánà kyàutár kúxì.	He dashed us money.
Mèné nè dàmúwánkà?	Mèné nè mátsálàrkà?	What is your problem?
Wánnàn mìyà yánà dà kwáshè bàkí.	Wánnàn míyàr tánà dà záqí.	This soup is palatable.
Yá nùshí Músá.	Yá nàushí Músá.	He hit Musa.
Káwwá yà fálkà.	Kówá yà fárkà.	Everyone should wake up.

2.1.3 Some Major Findings

The major differences from the linguistics and sociolinguistics point of view that is evident in the above sentences when comparing the Lafia Hausa variety and the Standard Hausa are as follows:

i. In the Standard Hausa, sentence like ‘Wánnàn míyàr tánà dà záqí.’ is now referred to as ‘wánnàn míyà yánà dà kwáshè bàkí’ in Lafia Hausa variety. In the above sentence, the word záqí in Standard Hausa is now referred to as kwáshè bàkí in Lafia Hausa.

ii. So also, in sentence like ‘Mèné nè mátsálàrkà?’ in Standard Hausa is referred to as ‘Mèné nè dàmúwánkà?’ in Lafia Hausa variety. In the above example, the word mátsálàrkà in Standard Hausa is referred to as dàmúwánkà in Lafia Hausa.

iii. In another example, sentence like ‘Mù tàfí kó?’ in Standard Hausa is now referred to as ‘Mù tàfí hó?’ in Lafia Hausa variety. Here, the word kó in Standard Hausa became hó in Lafia Hausa variety.

iv. In another example, the referential consonant r indicating feminine gender in the word kyàutár and míyàr in Standard Hausa became consonant n indicating masculine gender in Lafia Hausa variety, and the words become kyàután and míyàn in Lafia Hausa.

v. In another example, the word ìná in Standard Hausa became àngàné in Lafia Hausa variety which is also popular in Zaria Hausa dialect. Likewise, the word shìrírìtá in Standard Hausa became tútùtú in Lafia Hausa variety.

vi. Words like shán and jíràn in Standard Hausa became shá and jírá in Lafia Hausa variety. The n consonant is silent or inaudible in Lafia Hausa variety.

3.0 Conclusion

To conclude this research, it is very significant to observe that Lafia Hausa variety is a unique Hausa regional variety that can be studied. This research studied some aspects of the lexical and syntactic features of the Lafia Hausa variety, and the study exhibit some linguistic differences in a number of ways. The findings at the end of the investigation revealed that, indeed, there are some differences in lexical and syntactic features of Lafia Hausa variety when compared with standard Hausa as seen in the above examples.

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