Paul Newman and Roxana Ma Newman. Hausa Dictionary for Everyday Use: Hausa - English/ English - Hausa

Abstract

Hausa is one of the most widely researched languages of sub-Saharan Africa. Its documentation began more than 160 years ago and it has a long lexicographic tradition—even if the number of dictionaries is rather limited. The Hausa dictionary under review is based on the dictionaries both authors have published in the last 40 years (Newman and Newman, 1977; Newman, 1990; Newman, 2007), but also on Bargery’s monumental publication (1934) and the BUK monolingual Hausa dictionary (CNHN, 2006) as well as some other works. The authors, both distinguished specialists in Hausa, worked closely together with a team of expert Hausa language linguists, all native speakers of the language. This publication was long awaited, as there was a need for a single-volume bilingual bidirectional dictionary with modern vocabulary (Awde’s bilingual and bidirectional dictionary was published in 1996, more than 25 years ago). In general, Hausa dictionaries have been and continue to be used almost exclusively by Hausa language scholars and students. The target group of this dictionary are both Hausa and non-Hausa speakers, primarily in Nigeria. The dictionary is intended to be used as a ‘practical and trustworthy reference work’ (p. xii) and is recommended for use in schools and in the media.