Sannu! This Hausa course was developed by the U.S. Peace Corps for its volunteers going to Niger. It can be useful as a primer for learning the basics of the Hausa language. You can listen and follow along to each lesson or download the whole course directly.

Download Full Course (PDF and Audio Files)

Introduction

Hausa historically is primarily the name of a language rather than of a people. By extension, it has come to be used to describe the majority group of northern Nigerians and south-central Nigeriens, linked by a sense of unity based on a common language, history and customs. Ethnically, however, there exists some heterogeneity within this group, and religion-wise there are a few Christian and animist Hausa as well as many Muslim Hausa.

The present-day Hausa people originate from the Hausa Bakwai, the seven historical states of Kano, Katsina, Daura, Zazzau (Zaria), Biram, Gobir and Rano, which form the nucleus of the Kano, North Central and North-western states of Nigeria and of the contiguous portion of Niger Republic. These states flourished some 400 years ago; Kano city is reputed to be a thousand years old. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Fulani of Sokoto incorporated the governments of the Hausa Bakwai into the Sokoto empire, the foundation of the political entity recognized up to 1966 as the Northern Region of Nigeria. The kingdom of Bornu, along with the remainder of present-day North-eastern, Benu-Plateau and Kwara states, remained outside the mainstream of Hausa and later Fulani influence.

Those ancient states where Hausa was spoken, but not as a mother tongue, were known as the Banza Bakwai, the seven ‘illegitimate’ ones. They included such areas as Ilorin (Yoruba), Nupe, Yauri, Kebbi, Kwararafa (Jukun), Gwari and Zamfara. Gwari is a term still used to refer contemptuously to one who haltingly stammers out pidgin-Hausa: Bagwari ne. Its opposite, the flattery given to a foreigner who speaks fluent Hausa, is ‘Ya iya Hausa kama jakin Kano,’ literally he speaks Hausa like a Kano donkey, as the Kano dialect is the one normally accepted as ‘standard’ Hausa.

Hausa is classified by J. H. Greenberg as a member of the Chadic group of the Afroasiatic family of languages. It is, therefore, more closely related genetically to Arabic, Hebrew, Berber and other members of the Afroasiatic family than are most of the rest of the languages of sub-Saharan Africa. To this extent, Hausa is not a ‘typical’ African language. The conceptual framework of the Hausa-speaking peoples expressed through the language is, however, definitely African and bears a close relationship to that expressed through more ‘typically’ African Niger-Kordofanian languages to the south of Hausa.

The cultural influence of the Near East upon the Hausa people is, however, quite prominent and is reflected in the language. The influence of Muslim thought and culture may be said to permeate many aspects of Hausa life and language. Borrowings of concepts (especially religious and philosophical) and vocabulary are recognizable at every turn.

As one result of early Muslim influence, Hausa has a literary tradition extending back several centuries before contact with Western culture. Hausa was first written in an Arabic script known as ajami. Today this representation of the language is largely restricted to Muslim scholars, diviners (malamai) and their Koranic schools, having been superceded for most purposes by the Roman script (minus the diacritics).

Lesson 1 – Pronunciation

Vowels

Consonants

Special Sounds in Hausa

[/expand]

Lesson 2 – Greetings Vocabulary

[/expand]

Lesson 3 – Common Greetings

Typical Greetings

Introducing Oneself

[/expand]

Lesson 4 – More Greetings

[/expand]

Lesson 5 – Saying Goodbye

[/expand]

Lesson 6 – Dialogue

[/expand]

Lesson 7 – Useful Phrases

[/expand]

Lesson 8 – Days and Months

[/expand]

Lesson 9 – Time

[/expand]

Lesson 10 – Numbers 1 to 20

[/expand]

Lesson 11 – Numbers 21 to 1,000,000

[/expand]

Lesson 12 – Money

[/expand]

Lesson 13 – Food

[/expand]

Lesson 14 – Measurements

[/expand]

Lesson 15 – Questions

[/expand]

Lesson 16 – Expressing Needs

[/expand]

Lesson 17 – Bargaining

[/expand]

Lesson 18 – Weather

[/expand]

Lesson 19 – To Be (The Ne/Ce Sandwich)

The particles ne (masculine) and ce (feminine) are used with the following pronouns when talking about something you “are” (such as a teacher, a woman, an American, etc.)

Note: The plural pronouns (mu, ku, su) always take a “ne,” regardless of whether the subjects are masculine or feminine. Example: Su mata ne. They are women.

You can also use the pronoun with the ne (masculine) or ce (feminine) to say, “It is I…”

[/expand]

Lesson 20 – To Be (Negation)

To negate the ne/ce form, put one “ba” after the pronoun and one “ba” either before or after the ne/ce.

Negating the simple pronoun plus ne/ce is as follows:

The ne/ce particles are also used to express the verb “to be” without the pronouns, for example: “It is…” or “They are…” Masculine nouns can end in any letter.

Most feminine nouns in Hausa will end in –a, with a couple of masculine exceptions:

For feminine nouns, the ce particle is used for expressing “to be.”

Ne is used for masculine and plural nouns, as all plurals are treated as masculine regardless of whether the singular is masculine or feminine.

[/expand]

Lesson 21 – To Be (-na Form)

The second form of the verb “to be” is the –na form. It is also referred to as the locative form, and it can be used in four ways.

1. It can locate the pronoun or subject in a particular place.

2. It can express a particular state, especially used in greetings such as:

3. Used with the word “da” meaning “with,” it can act as the verb “to have,” literally to be “with something.”

4. The use of the –na form can also express a verbal action.

[/expand]

Lesson 22 – Future Tense

The future tense is formed easily by putting the word “za” before the pronoun to mean “going” as in “going” to do something.

To negate the future tense, put one ba at the beginning of the sentence and one ba either after the verb or towards the end of the sentence.

[/expand]

Lesson 23 – Past Tense

The past tense pronouns, also called the completed form, are what set the tense in sentences, as opposed to verbs in English.

Note the present forms shina and yana always become ya in the past tense.

[/expand]

Lesson 24 – Past Tense Negative

The past tense negative ALWAYS takes two ba’s, which is how you can tell the difference from the present tense. One ba goes at the beginning and one goes either after the verb or at the end of the sentence.

Note the past tense ya is contracted to bai…ba in the past tense.

You can see how the pronouns set the tense in Hausa in the following examples:

[/expand]

Original Course Text

Download Full Course (PDF and Audio Files)

View other Peace Corps courses