American couple composes Hausa-English dictionary published in Nigeria

A 627-page Hausa-English Dictionary was launched at the Bayero University Kano (BUK) on Saturday.

Written by an Indiana-based linguistics scholar from the United States, Paul Newman, and his wife, Roxana, the lexicon was published by the BUK press.

Newman was in 1972 the pioneer Director, Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages of the then Abdullahi Bayero College, which metamorphosed to BUK.

According to the book reviewer and Executive Director, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Professor Isma’il Junaidu, the publication is the most comprehensive Hausa bilingual dictionary since the 1930s.

According to him, the dictionary was written in standardised Hausa, while its authors were one of the leading authorities in Afro-Chadic languages, globally.

Newman was represented at the launch by the Dean, BUK School of Postgraduate Studies, Professor Mustapha Ahmad Isa.

The American scholar said the launch of the book was a great milestone in research in the Hausa language, and it also coincided with his 50th anniversary of coming to Nigeria.

“With its vast number of its native speakers and users globally, Hausa is today no doubt the most important language in Africa and one of the biggest in the world,” said Newman.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, said the launching of the dictionary was no accident, but a result of the university’s attraction to knowledge and research development.

Also at the launch were emirs of Kano, Kazaure, Karaye, and the Polish Ambassador to Nigeria, Joanna Tarnawska; representatives of governors of Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, and Katsina, as well as a renowned business mogul, Alhaji Aminu Dantata.