A Variation Study Of Kano, Katsina And Sokoto Dialects

Our use of language, in whatever form or sense, is marked by grammatical, lexical and/or phonological variations. These variations are said to account for dialectal differences amongst users of the same or mutually the same language. However, several factors (regional, sociolectal, accentual, and ethnic) are responsible for these variations. Since, presumably, a speaker’s region is identified by the dialect he or she uses, this paper focuses on regional dialects to account for lexical variations in the dialects of Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto. For this research, one hundred and fifty (150) Hausa words, using Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto dialects are studied. The words are categorized into family/ matrimony, rearing/naming animals, health and sickness, environmental/ geographical areas, trading, and sewing/clothing. The analysis reveals that lexical variations occur less frequently between Kano and Katsina dialects than they do between Kano and Sokoto’s, a finding that suggests the importance of narrow (instead of broad) regional division and study in uncovering a speaker’s region or identity.