Language lesson
🇳🇬 Hausa
Hausa is the trade language of much of West Africa's Sahel. It is written today in Latin script (boko) and historically in Arabic script (ajami).
- Spoken in
- Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon
- Speakers
- Over 80 million speakers including second-language users
- Language family
- Afro-Asiatic · Chadic branch
Lesson one
How it sounds.
Tonal, with long and short vowels that change meaning. The hooked letters ɓ, ɗ and ƙ are 'popped' sounds made in the throat.
Say it out loud
Seven phrases to start with.
- SannuHellosay it: SAN-noo
- Ina kwana?Good morning (how was your night?)say it: EE-na KWA-na
- Lafiya lauI'm perfectly finesay it: la-FEE-ya lau
- Na godeThank yousay it: na GO-deh
- Don AllahPleasesay it: don AL-lah
- Sunana…My name is…say it: soo-NA-na
- Sai anjimaSee you latersay it: sigh an-JEE-ma
Behind the words
Culture notes.
- Greetings are long and layered — you ask about the night, the family, the work and the health before business begins.
- Kano's dye pits and Sahelian mud architecture are among the oldest living crafts in West Africa.
- Hausa is a bridge language across borders: it will carry you from Kano to Niamey.
Practise today: Open with 'Sannu', follow with 'Ina kwana?' and answer any greeting with 'Lafiya lau'.