Bade-English-Hausa Dictionary (Gashua Dialect)

Description

Publisher: Ajami Press, Box 343, Potiskum, Yobe State Publication date: 2004 Number of pages: 96This is the first published dictionary of the Bade language, spoken in northern Yobe State, Nigeria. The original basis for the dictionary was a sizable collection of words assembled in 1973-75 when the editor lived in Gashua and was working as a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages (then a research branch of Ahmadu Bello University, now part of Bayero University Kano). The original vocabulary list came mainly from stories, histories, proverbs, and so forth provided by many speakers, all of which were transcribed and checked with the indispensable help of the Muhammadu Mai Gari and Buba Nasara. The original list has been considerable expanded and many corrections have been made during the current project. Bade is dialectally very diverse. There are at least three major dialect divisions, which the editor has referred to as the Western, Southern, and Gashua dialect varieties. These varieties are different enough from each other that they might be called different languages. Within each of the major varities, there are many sub-dialectal distinctions-indeed, virtually every town and village has its own distinctive characteristics. A dictionary that tried to combine the three main dialect types would be unwieldy and confusing. This dictionary thus contains words only from the Gashua variety, that spoken in Gashua (Gasiwa), the largest city in the Bade-speaking area and the administrative seat of the Bade Emirate. It does, however, include words from other towns, including Katuzu, Azbak, Tabawa, Tajluwa, Tarbutu, Jlawur Gasiwa, User, Gasima, Dakfum, Azam, and others. Speakers from some towns may thus find words that are unfamiliar to them or that they do not actively use.