Hausa Online

Bukin Ranar Ruwa 2012

hausaonline — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:50:01 +0000

Today is World Water Day, which is celebrated every year on 22nd March. Dealing with limited water resources is a daily problem for people in Africa, including the Hausa people. “Water” (“ruwa”) is also found as a topic or symbol in numerous proverbs. Here are just a few (found in proverbs collections like A.H.M. Kirk-Greene 1966: Hausa ba dabo ba ne. A collection of 500 proverbs and Whitting, C.E.J. 1940. Hausa and Fulani Proverbs):

A dubi ruwa a dubi tsaki.
Lit. Look at the water, look at the sediment.
Not all that glitters is gold.

Ba baƙo ruwa ka sha labari.
Give a stranger a drink and you will hear (lit. drink) the news.

Kifi a ruwa sarki ne.
Lit. A fish is a king in the water.
A man can do what he likes in his own house.

Kome zurfin ruwa, da yashi a ciki.
Lit. However deep the water, there’s always sand in it.
There is an end to all things.

Sai ruwa ya yi yawa a kan ba doki.
Only when there is plenty of water do you give it to a horse.

Find more “ruwa” proverbs in my Hausa Proverbs collection

Filed under: Hausa Tagged: proverbs, World Water Day

Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics

hausaonline — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:20:51 +0000

The “Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics”, compiled by Professor Paul Newman of Indiana University, is a comprehensive, open access bibliography containing more than 2500 entries. The initial edition (Version 01) is now available as a searchable pdf file on the website of DEVA, Institute of African Studies, University of Bayreuth. To access the bibliography, find the baobab tree thumbnail at the bottom of the page and click on the Chadic Hausa link.

This initial Version 01 is presented in PDF format only. The goal in the future is to make the bibliography available in database format as well. Scholars using the bibliography will have the opportunity to contribute to its completeness and accuracy by submitting additions and corrections to be incorporated in subsequent editions.

Filed under: Hausa Tagged: bibliography

Another Hausa Bible website

hausaonline — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:08:48 +0000

While looking for something else, I have come across YouVersion, another website which offers a Hausa translation of the Bible. So far, this is the best online Hausa Bible site I have found! The Hausa translation is the one published by the Nigerian Bible Society in 1979, which was also used on another website I described here. The difference is the way the books and chapters are presented.

You can have two translations side by side, e.g. Hausa and English:

Two translations side by side (Screenshot by Uwe Seibert)

There is also an audio version of the New Testament, so you could listen to the text while reading it:

Written text and audio version side by side (Screenshot by Uwe Seibert)

There is also a mobile version, so you could have the bible in Hausa on your smartphone. Check it out for yourself and tell me how you like it!

Filed under: audio, Hausa, text Tagged: Bible, Bible society, Christianity, New Testament, Religion and Spirituality, YouVersion

HausaFilms.tv — a wiki on Hausa films

hausaonline — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:31:18 +0000

Watching Hausa films is an entertaining way to learn the Hausa language and also get insights into the Hausa culture. More and more films – some of them with English subtitles – can be found on YouTube. I have just added a number to my Hausa films collection. a growing number of quality Hausa films can be found on the YouTube channel hausafilmstv.

Now I have come across HausaFilms.tv, “a collaborative wiki-based website and directory set out to disseminate organized and accurate information about Hausa films. Here you’ll find a sortable/filterable list of Hausa films, list of Hausa actors and actresses, directors, producers, musicians, etc., and also news and links relating to the industry. “

Filed under: Hausa, video Tagged: YouTUbe

Ina farin ciki

hausaonline — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:21:08 +0000

Ina farin ciki — literally “I am with whiteness of belly” — is a way of saying “I am happy” in Hausa. Presently the owner of this blog is in this state in two respects: First, Hausaonline has become quite popular. Every day, several hundred visitors come and look for new Hausa videos, links, proverbs or blog posts. The highest number of hits on a single day (September 17th 2011) so far was 1,057! Secondly, it is nice to see that people have started writing more comments and giving more feedback – something every blog owner yearns for. Then, I am also happy about my new Facebook group on Hausa proverbs. It already has 84 members — mostly Hausa native speakers — and many have started posting their own proverbs. This is all very encouraging and I hope that it will contribute to the knowledge of the Hausa language and culture.

Filed under: Hausa

Hausa Bible on the Internet (2)

hausaonline — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:01:50 +0000

Some days ago, a reader of this blog complained that in the Hausa Bible version I had mentioned in one of the blog posts chapter 4 of the book of Malachi was missing. I checked and found that he was right. Probably the person who put that version online simply forgot to include the chapter. After all, the Bible contains many books and chapters.

In the meantime, I have come across another website where one can find a complete version of the Hausa Bible in Unicode, in common Catholic arrangement, together with some other Christian materials in Hausa and a paper on Hausa poetic meters. These materials have been put online by Dr. Joseph Kenny, O.P., a Dominican Friar, who has spent a large part of his life in Africa.

Check out Dr. Kenny’s Hausa Bible website.

Filed under: Hausa, text Tagged: Bible, poetry

A Hausa Photoblog from Kano

hausaonline — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 07:14:10 +0000

Aminus3 is a photoblog community composed of photographers from around the world. One of them is Dr. Yusuf M. Adamu, a Medical Geographer, University Professor, writer and poet from Kano. I have been following his photoblog http://hausa.aminus3.com for a while and I really love his pictures. They give a nice insight into the culture and social life of the Hausa people and could also help you learn Hausa vocabulary, as he uses Hausa words to describe his pictures. See some of his pictures for yourself:

Filed under: Hausa Tagged: Blogs, Culture, photos

BU 200 Word Project

hausaonline — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:26:29 +0000

Here is another useful language learning tool of the Boston University African Studies Center. Using the 200 Word Project, one can learn the basic vocabulary of six African languages, including Hausa:

Screenshot by Uwe Seibert

Filed under: audio, Hausa, text, video Tagged: Vocabulary

Using video to explain proverbs

hausaonline — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:57:47 +0000

(via Boston University) In the African Languages Proverbs Project, the Boston University African Studies Center has collected short performances by African theater troupes in their native languages. These languages include Wolof from Senegal, Hausa from Niger, Amharic from Ethiopia, Xhosa and Zulu from South Africa and Swahili from Tanzania. Each performance focuses on one of ten common proverbs and places them within a cultural and social context. These videos are designed for advanced students of the languages and are an invaluable tool for developing language proficiency and cultural competence.

The following video explains the Hausa proverb ‘In ka iya ruwa, ka iya laka?‘

I have added this and all the other Hausa proverb videos to my Hausa video collection.

A large number of Hausa proverbs can be found in my Hausa proverbs blog.

More on Hausa proverbs can be found on Twitter and Facebook:

Karin magana @ Facebook
KARIN MAGANA @ Facebook
Karin Magana @ Twitter

Filed under: Hausa, LCTL, video Tagged: proverbs, YouTUbe

Sim Nigeria Hausa Orientation

hausaonline — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 05:35:25 +0000

SIM Nigeria is a Christian organisation working in different areas in Central and Northern Nigeria. In order to prepare their staff, they are now offering a Hausa Orientation course online. I was proud to see that my Hausa blog is mentioned in the introduction as “the place to go first” in terms of Hausa resources. I would like to return the praise: I think SIM is offering a very helpful tool, including practical language learning tips, a Hausa pronunciation guide, useful words and phrases, and many Hausa language exercises for beginners.

Check out SIM Nigeria Hausa Orientation

Filed under: audio, Hausa, LCTL, text, tools Tagged: e-learning