Contrastive Analysis of Hausa and Gwandara Phonemic Systems
Author: Muhammad Mustapha (Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria)
Speaker: Muhammad Mustapha
Topic: Language Documentation
The (SCOPUS / ISI) GLOCAL AFALA 2023 General Session
Abstract
Gwandara and Hausa languages are related in many ways. It is historically recorded that the people referred today as Gwandara were originally Hausa people (in their primitive state known as Habe). However, a couple of historical and linguistic events occurred and forever changed their history. It is these sociolinguistic and historical developments that brought about the two sets of phonemic systems which this paper explores to explain how and why they are so similar or dissimilar in some ways. Gwandara is a debased form of Hausa language which started as zaurance, an artificially carved language from the ancient Hausa language. Using the weak version of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) as a theoretical model, the study takes a descriptive comparison between the two sound systems to arrive at the findings that Hausa and Gwandara languages are indeed related in both linguistic and historical lineages, more so that Hausa gave birth to Gwandara language. As one of the major languages in the North-Central region of Nigeria today with very limited literature in the linguistic circle, this research hopes to expose Gwandara language into the real academic world, thereby aiding language documentation and preservation in order to arrest issues of language endangerment or extinction.
Keywords: Hausa, Gwandara, Phonemic, Zaurance, Sound