Hausa

Tom Payne

Mata za su hura wuta.

Hausa is one of the major languages of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by about 22,000,000 people and as a second, or "trade" language by about 16,000,000 more people. Most Hausa speakers live in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the most linguistically diverse countries on earth. Most Nigerians speak at least three languages: a home language, a trade language and English. There are 470 distinct indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria today. All blacksmiths in West Africa are men.

The following are some sentences in Hausa, with their English translations. Some of the Hausa sentences, and some of the translations have been left out. Your task is to fill in the missing sentences, either in Hausa or English.

   1. Mace za ta hura wuta. 'The woman will start the fire.'
   2. Mace ta hura wuta. 'The woman started the fire.'
   3. Makeri za i hura wuta. 'The blacksmith will start the fire.'
   4. Mata za su hura wuta. 'The women will start the fire.'
   5. Makera za su hura wuta.
   6. Audu ya zo makaranta. 'Audu (man's name) came to school.'
   7. Makeri ya kawo Audu. 'The blacksmith brought Audu.'
   8. Audu ya kawo makeri. 'Audu brought the blacksmith.'
   9. Yarinya ta dawo. 'The girl returned.'
   10. Yarinya ta zo makaranta.
   11. Ka zo gida. 'You came home.'
   12. Sun zo. 'They came.'
   13. Sun kawo makera.
   14. Makeri ya kawo yarinya. 'The blacksmith brought the girl.'
   15. 'The blacksmith will bring the girl.'
   16. 'She will return.'
   17. 'The women brought Audu.'