Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
SomeaspectsoftheinfluenceofArabicontheHausalanguage
25
thatevokethetermkór̃ùwd3,erroneouslytranslatedintoEnglishas‘prostitute’
ratherthan‘freewoman’,consideredherroleinthetraditionalHausasocietyand
stillinthecurrentoneinNiger,wheretherepresentativesofthesewomenare
agroupofimportantinfluence.
Thecontinuousjihód,whichrockedtheHausasocietyofnorthernNigeria,from
thatofthe’70sbyMohammedMarwa,bestknownbyhisnicknameMaitatsine4
or,morerecently,thatofthesameBokoHaram,whocontinuetobleedthispart
ofAfrica,showthatIslamicisprofessedepidermally.Infact,theexpectationsof
thelocals,attheintroductionofthešartca5intheNorthofNigeria,weregreat
andwerecompletelyfrustrated.Thecorruptionandinstabilityoftheregionfavored
thehumusoftherevolt.TheNorthispoorcomparedtotheSouth,whereoilis
abundant;theNorthhasagreaterpopulationthantheSouthandbelievesitisnot
sufficientlyrepresentedintheroomsofpowerandtodrawlittlebenefitfromthe
centraladministration.Thepicturethenbecomesevendarkerconsideringthehigh
birthrateofthecountry.
AllthesesituationsaccentuatetheattitudeandtheexpectationsoftheHausa
intryingtoIslamizethestilldeeppocketsoftheMaguzawa6byimposingthe
languagebyanymeansanderasingalltheexistingones.Anexampleconcernsthe
Bangwinji7populationIslamizedonlyrecently,whichboasteditsownIslamization
datingbacktothetimesoftheProphet,whenthecultoftheancestorsvenerated
inthesacredgrovewasstillpresentamongthem.
ThemaininterestoftheHausaswasessentially,inspreadingIslam,toconvey
theirownlanguagetosmallethnicgroups.Allthishasoftencreateddisagreements
anddiscontentinsomegroupsthathavetriedtoresistthisculturalandlinguistic
subjugation,valuingtheirownlanguage.Anexampleofsuchresistanceisattested
byRudolfLegerinhisgrammarontheKwamilanguage.ThespreadoftheHausa
languageisundoubtedlyunstoppableandidiosyncrasiesandtaboosspreadalong
withit.WiththearrivalofIslamawholerangeofArabictermsrelatedtothe
newreligionwereincorporatedintoHausaandthisisnormal,butthelanguage
prestige,whichwasbasedonthestatusofawrittenlanguage,contrarytothe
locallanguagesinclinedtooraltradition,hadanenormousinfluence.Therefore,
asitwasremarked(Baldi2009:150)inthepastthelanguagereceivedaseries
ofterms,whichwerenotabsolutelynecessaryandwhichendeduptakingover
thelocalones.Sincethenthesetermsacquiredascurrilousmeaning:thinkof
allthewordsrelatingtothesexualsphere,thinkofbū̀ró‘penis’andsoon.While
3
SeeHoltedhal&Bovin(1999:35-113)andBaldi(2004:39-43).
4
SeeBaldi(2003:229-40).
5
InNigeria,šartcahasbeeninstitutedasamainbodyofcivilandcriminallawinnineMuslim-
majorityandinsomepartsofthreeMuslim-pluralitystatessince1999,whenthen-ZamfaraStategovernor
AhmadSaniYerimabeganthepushfortheinstitutionofShariaatthestatelevelofgovernment.
6
TheyaremembersofthepagantribeofKanoandKatsina,seeAbraham(1962:70).
7
BangwinjiisoneoftheSavannapeoplesofeasternNigeria.
