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SergioBaldi
example,thepositionofwomeninsuccessionlaw,allprovisionsseemtobe
borrowedfromJewishlaw,becausethesimilaritiesaretooobvioustobecasual.
Withoutanydoubt,HausaistheWestAfricanlanguagewiththehighestnumber
ofArabicloans.Thereasonsforthisdependonsomeconcomitantfactors:ahigh
numberofspeakers,whouseHausaasafirstlanguage,itsdiffusionasalanguage
ofintertribalrelationsandaboveallasalinguafrancainthemarkets.Thus
thishighnumberofspeakerswereincontactwithsomanypeoples,among
themparticularlyFulani,whoenrichedHausawithalotofloans,mainlyfrom
Arabic.ItmustberememberedalsothattheEnglishpoliticsadopteditinnorthern
Nigeriaasthelanguageofadministrationanddevelopeditbystandardizationof
thelanguageandtheuseofLatinalphabet.Anotherreasontoexplainthepresence
ofahighnumberofArabicloansinHausaisitsaffinitywithlanguagesofthe
Afro-Asianphylum.Thisaffinity,asalreadynotedonotheroccasions,explains
thehighpresencealsoofverballoans,whichingeneralareratherrareinother
languagesoroftenalmostcompletelyabsent1.
2.CulturalperspectiveoftheArabicinfluence
ThepresenceofArabicinHausaislocatedinaveryoldtime,perhapsatthe
beginningofthespreadofIslaminAfrica,duetothepreachingofthenewreligion
byconverts,theWangara,Mandingopreachers,andonlylaterbyArabs,butforan
extendedconversionoftheHausastothenewreligion,itwasnecessarytowait
afewcenturies.UnliketheKanuri,whoseconversiontothenewreligiondates
backtoverydistanttimes,astheythemselvesproclaiminalltruth,theirHausa
neighborshavehadanambivalentattitudetowardsIslam.ThejihódofUsuman
danFodyoin1804isastrikingtestimony.Inmyopinion,theactionoftheFulani
reformertorestorethedictatesofthenewreligionwasnotextensiveandprofound.
TheHausabackgroundclashedwithmanyaspectsofArabicculture,ofwhich
Islamisaderivation.TheArabicsocietyispatrilineal,unlikeHausa,whichis
matrilinealtothepointofjustifyingthatawoman,Amina,wasthequeenofthe
Hausastateorganizationsinthesixteenthcentury.ThepresenceinHausaculture
ofdeeplyrootedanimistforms,suchastheritualofthebori[bṑrt]2,orpractices
1
Forexample,inKanuri,eightverballoansarefoundamong481Arabicones,whereasinKotoko,
among111Arabicloans,therearenoverbalones,seeBaldi(forthcoming).
2
BoriisaspiritualistcultoriginallyoftheMaguzawa,Hausaphoneanimistswhosereligionseems
topre-datetheintroductionofIslamintotheHausaterritoriesandtohavesurvivedMuslim,Christian,
andBritishColonialattemptstosuppressit.Itssurvival,withinanoverwhelminglyIslamicsociety,may
bedueinparttoitssyncreticcharacter:theexpansionofitspantheontoincludeMuslimspirits,its
absorptionoftheMuslimconceptofthejinn,anditsacknowledgementofAllah’soverallsovereigntyof
thespiritcommunity.IthasevengainedamodicumofacceptanceinsomeIslamicquarters.
