The concept of family in Hausa

Abstract

The paper attempts to define the notion of family in Hausa, an African language which is very distant, both geographically and culturally, from the European context. With reference to the universal features of the notion family, the culture-specific concept of family is discussed, focusing on traditional model of the Hausa family and relations between family members. The main features of the concept are identified through the analysis of the lexicon, phraseology, and structural features. The discussion includes some specific profiles of the concept of family in Hausa, manifested in religious discourse and in the language of popular culture.