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Hausa is the mother tongue to more than 30 million people in northern Nigeria (25 million) and southern Niger Republic (5 million). It’s the second language of about 15 million along the West Africa. Hausa people and their groupings and communities are scattered in West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and the Arabia.
There are two principle dialects in Hausa; these are:
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North Western (Sokoto, Katsina and Gobir). This is known for its classical styles and constructions
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South Eastern (Kano, Hadejia, Zaria and Bauchi)
Hausa always been written with Arabic Script since the jihad of the reformist Sheikh Osman Ibn Fodio at the bginning of the 19th century. This script is called Ajami which has been used to document religious and literary documents. Latin alphabet was only introduced to the language with the coming of the British colonization to Nigeria. In the middle of this century, the Ajami revived its popularity especially in the documentation of religious texts as well as publishing some newspapers.
Hausa is one of the three national languages in Nigeria; that is in addition to Igbo and Yoruba. Hausa is used in both national and international news papers as well as local and international broadcast. Apart from the use of Hausa all over Africa as a second language of communication especially where Hausa communities are available, Hausa is taught in the Nigerian schools as a national language. These factors contributed immensely in the spread of the language.
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