Specimens of Hausa Literature Robinson Paperback Cambridge University Press

Specimens of Hausa LiteratureAuthor(s): Charles Henry Robinson\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781108013253, 978-1108013253\nSynopsis\nHausa is an African language originating in Niger and northern Nigeria and spoken widely in West and Central Africa as a trading language. This anthology of Hausa texts (mainly Islamic religious verse and historical narratives) was the first publication supported by the short-lived Hausa Association, formed in 1891 to promote the study of the Hausa language and people. Under its aegis the Reverend C. H. Robinson went on to produce a Hausa Grammar in 1897 and a Dictionary in 1899, making great advances in Western knowledge of the language, despite the fact that some in the field criticised him for his relatively short exposure to Hausa-speaking countries. With facsimile reproductions of the manuscripts at actual size, the texts collected in this book were the firs.