Paul Newman: A Hausa–English Dictionary

Abstract

Hausa (Chadic/Afroasiatic) is a major world language, spoken by more than 40 million people who are mostly found in northern Nigeria and the Republic of Niger. A sizeable number reside in other parts of Nigeria and the major cities of West Africa (Accra, Kumasi, Douala, Cotonou) and beyond. The history of its documentation dates back more than 150 years, with the most comprehensive grammars of any African language (see Wolff 1993, Jaggar 2001, for example). In the context of dictionary making, the language has also been the subject of lexicographic interest for more than a century, ranging from the pioneering work of Robinson (1899) to the large and accurate dictionary by Bargery (1934). Hausa has also had the benefit of more than a dozen other dictionaries, including Abraham (1962), Newman and Newman (1977), Mijinguini (1987), Newman (1990), Caron and Amfani (1997), Awde (1996) and more recently CNHN (2006). All these efforts have been acknowledged by the author in his introductory remarks. And it is against this comprehensive treatment of Hausa lexicography that the proper place of Newman's A Hausa–English Dictionary needs to be examined.