Ethnonyms in Hausa

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Date

1984

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Studies in African Linguistics

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https://hdl.handle.net/2022/21022

Abstract

Hausa ethnonyms, terms indicating a person's or~g~n, ethnic affiliation, or professional or social position, are formed with a prefix ba- in the singular and a suffix -aawaa in the plural. This paper provides a detailed specification of the segmental and tonal characteristics of "these ethnonyms and a comprehensive list of currently acceptable forms. The paper illustrates the semi-productive nature of the construction and the imperfect pairing of forms with ba- and -aawaa. The use of ethnonyms to indicate 'supporters or followers of a person' is documented as well as the overlooked functioning of ethnonyms as adjectival qualifiers. The paper explores the relationship between the suffix -aawaa and the identical suffix found with names of towns and villages. The major conclusion is that ba- and -aawaa are suppletive derivational markers, the former originally denoting 'person ... ', the latter indicating 'community ... '.

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Keywords

Hausa, African Languages, Linguistics

Citation

Newman, Paul. 1984. Ethnonyms in Hausa. Studies in African Linguistics 15(3): 301-320.

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Except where otherwise noted, this content is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license includes the following terms: You are free to share, copy, and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. Under the following terms: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Article

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Paul Newman Papers