The Hausa–Gwandara languages (also known as the A.1 West Chadic languages) of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. They include

Gwandara Gwandara is a West Chadic language, and the closest relative of Hausa. Its several dialects are spoken in northern Nigeria, predominantly in the north central region of Nigeria by the Gwandara people and some settlers who are about 30,000 people. ...

and

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

, the most populous

Chadic language The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type ...

and a major language of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

Languages

The two Hausa–Gwandara languages are: *

Classification within West Chadic

Based on nominal morphology and other grammatical patterns, Blench (2021) considers the Hausa–Gwandara branch to have been the first West Chadic branch to have split off from Proto-West Chadic.Blench, Roger. 2021.
The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench
'. WOCAL, Leiden.

Non-Chadic influences

The Hausa–Gwandara languages have many words that are not found in other

Chadic languages The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and northern Cam ...

Blench, Roger. 2011
Benue-Congo (and some Nilo-Saharan) etymologies for Hausa words?
/ref> because they are loans from Adamawa,

Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

, Kainji, Nupoid, and other Benue-Congo languages acquired during its expansion across the Nigerian

Middle Belt The Middle Belt (also spelt Middle-Belt or Central Nigeria) is a term used in human geography to designate a belt region stretching across central Nigeria longitudinally and forming a transition zone between Northern and Southern Nigeria. It is ...

. While those languages became assimilated, many of their words had changed the lexicon of Hausa. Some likely influence from vanished Nilo-Saharan languages on Hausa has been proposed. List of Hausa words of likely Benue-Congo origin:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hausa-Gwandara languages West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria