Journal Article

The Hausa Lexicographic Tradition

Paul Newman, Roxana Ma Newman

2011

Overview

Abstract: Hausa, a major language of West Africa, is one of the most widely studied languagesof Sub-Saharan Africa. It has a rich lexicographic tradition dating back some two centuries. Sincethe first major vocabulary published in 1843 up to the present time, almost 60 lexicographic works— dictionaries, vocabularies, glossaries — have been published, in a range of metalanguages, fromEnglish to Hausa itself. This article traces the historical development of the major studies accordingto their type and function as general reference works, specialized works, pedagogical works, andterminological works. For each work, there is a general discussion of its size, accuracy of the phonological,lexical, and grammatical information, and the adequacy of its definitions and illustrativematerial. A complete list of the lexicographic works is included. Keywords: ARABIC, BILINGUAL LEXICOGRAPHY, DIALECTAL VARIANTS, DICTIONARIES,ENGLISH, ETYMOLOGIES, FRENCH, GERMAN, GLOSSARIES, GRAMMATICALCATEGORIES, HAUSA, LANGUAGE LEARNING, LOANWORDS, NEOLOGISMS, NIGER,NIGERIA, ORTHOGRAPHY, PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION, PHONOLOGY, RUSSIAN, STANDARDDIALECT, STANDARDIZATION, TERMINOLOGY, VOCABULARIES, WEST AFRICA. Opsomming: Die leksikografiese tradisie in Hausa. Hausa, 'n belangrike taal vanWes-Afrika, is een van die tale van Afrika suid van die Sahara wat die wydste bestudeer word. Dithet 'n ryk leksikografiese tradisie wat ongeveer twee eeue oud is. Van die eerste groot woordeboekwat in 1843 gepubliseer is tot die hede is ongeveer 60 leksikografiese werke — woordeboeke,naamlyste, woordelyste — gepubliseer in 'n reeks metatale van Engels tot Hausa self. Hierdie artikelgaan die historiese ontwikkeling van die groter studies aan die hand van hulle tipe en funksieas algemene naslaanwerke, gespesialiseerde werke, opvoedkundige werke, en terminologiesewerke na. Vir elke werk is daar 'n algemene bespreking oor sy grootte, akkuraatheid van die fonologiese,leksikale en grammatikale inligting, en die toereikendheid van sy definisies en illustratiewemateriaal. 'n Volledige lys van die leksikografiese werke is ingesluit. Sleutelwoorde: AANLEER VAN TAAL, ARABIES, DIALEKTIESE VARIANTE, DUITS,ENGELS, ETIMOLOGIEË, FONETIESE TRANSKRIPSIE, FONOLOGIE, FRANS, GRAMMATIESEKATEGORIEË, HAUSA, LEENWOORDE, NAAMLYSTE, NEOLOGISMES, NIGER,NIGERIË, ORTOGRAFIE, RUSSIES, STANDAARDDIALEK, STANDAARDISERING,

• Publisher: Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal-WAT
• Subject: ARABIC, BILINGUAL LEXICOGRAPHY, DIALECTAL VARIANTS, DICTIONARIES, ENGLISH, ETYMOLOGIES, FRENCH, GERMAN, GLOSSARIES, GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES, HAUSA, LANGUAGE LEARNING, LOANWORDS, NEOLOGISMS, NIGER, NIGERIA, ORTHOGRAPHY, PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION, PHONOLOGY, RUSSIAN, STANDARD DIALECT, STANDARDIZATION, TERMINOLOGY, VOCABULARIES, WEST AFRICA