Hausa Grammar
With Exercises, Readings and Vocabulary

This 1897 practical teaching grammar was written for missionaries and colonial officials working in West and Central Africa.

Charles Henry Robinson (Author)

9781108031370, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 November 2011

140 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 0.8 cm, 1.87 kg

Charles Henry Robinson (1861–1925) was a Cambridge scholar who, during the 1890s, published several books on the language, literature and culture of the Hausa people. Hausa is an African language originating in Niger and northern Nigeria and spoken widely in West and Central Africa as a lingua franca. Published in 1897, Robinson's Grammar was written to serve the needs of missionaries, colonial staff and army officers who wished to communicate with the local people, but made no claim to be definitive or comprehensive. Until the twentieth century Hausa was written in an Arabic script, examples of which are given, while the exercise sections of the grammar are transliterated for students unfamiliar with Arabic. The vocabulary, mainly relating to agriculture, trade and domestic life, was chosen to suit the practical needs of Robinson's intended audience, and reveals much about colonial life in West Africa as well as providing linguistic information.

Preface
Introduction
Pronouns
The verb
Substantives
Numerals
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections
Additional grammatical notes
Common or idiomatic expression
Hausa readings
Vocabulary
Note.

Subject Areas: Linguistics [CF]