Nazarin Tsarin Sauti a Hausar Yamma

Abstract

Dialectology is an area of linguistics that is concerned with the studies of similarities and differences in speech forms of a particular language. Dialectologists are more interested in studying the relationship existing in speech forms of a language instead of their differences, thus, the relationship is what assists greatly in maintaining mutual intelligibility among the speakers of the same language. Scholars of Hausa dialectology have classified Hausa regional dialects into two major divisions of Eastern and Western Hausa dialects. The divisions were based on the geographical locations and common linguistic features of the dialects that constituted each of the major groups. A regional dialect can be distinguished with another in a particular language at different levels of linguistic studies that include; phonetics, phonology, morphology syntax and the lexicon. This paper is concerned with the phonological variation of Western Hausa dialects. The aim of this paper among other things is to bring to the limelight some neglected Hausa Western dialects that were merged or not included in the earlier division of Hausa dialects classification. The paper attempts to some extent, to study the linguistic features of the Western Hausa dialects as at the present time. The Western Hausa dialects that were brought to the limelight in this paper are: Zamfarci, Kabanci, Arauci, Gobirci, and Adaranci Western dialects of Hausa. The paper has studied the common phonological features of these dialects that shared a regional boundary in the western part of Hausa land which was earlier considered as a single Hausa dialect of Sakkwatanci. A research survey was conducted among a number of speakers in different regions of these dialects through a questionnaire and recorded interviews to establish the existence of the dialects as well as their common features and differences that make them dialects of one language. The research was also guided by a theory of Generative Phonology and Dialectology in Generative Grammar. Findings of the research discovered that the western dialects have common phonological features and share boundaries with each other despite the fact that they have some idiosyncratic features that distinguish them as separate dialects.