Hausa
Hausa is the main member of the Chadic group of the Afro-Asiatic language family,
which includes the Berber, Semitic and Cushitic languages and Ancient Egyptian.
With an estimated 22 million native speakers, and an additional 17 million second
language speakers, it has more speakers than any other language in sub-Saharan
Africa. The main Hausa speaking area is in northern Nigeria and Niger, but Hausa
is also widely spoken in northern Ghana and northern Cameroon, and there are
large Hausa communities in every major West African city. Most Hausa speakers
are Muslims, and Hausa is often used as a lingua franca among Muslims in non-Hausa
areas. In terms of sheer numbers, Hausa thus ranks as one of the world's major
languages, and its widespread use in a number of countries of West Africa makes
it probably the single most useful language to know in that region. Hausa's
rich poetic, prose, and musical literature, more and more of which is now available
in print and in audio and video recordings, makes it a rewarding area of study
for those who reach an advanced level.
Sources:
UCLA
Hausa homepage Independent Study Courses Available at UCSD: Other Local Resources:
Alan King's
Hodge
and Umaru, Hausa Basic Course (Tape)