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Glite Dictionary
West Chadic

West Chadic

9.9
A group of related languages spoken mainly in northern Nigeria, including Hausa
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : chádico occidental
  • Hausa, the largest West Chadic language, is spoken widely across northern Nigeria.

Examples

  • The West Chadic group contains several smaller languages that are less well-known than Hausa.

  • Many linguists study the West Chadic languages to understand the structure and history of Hausa.

  • The West Chadic languages are fascinating.

  • Many people speak West Chadic languages in Nigeria.

  • Hausa, the largest West Chadic language, is spoken widely across northern Nigeria.

  • Many linguists study the West Chadic languages to understand the structure and history of Hausa.

  • The West Chadic group contains several smaller languages that are less well-known than Hausa.

Surface Forms

West Chadic singular
West Chadic languages plural

Morphology

west + Chadic

The compound is directly compositional: 'west' indicates a geographic orientation and 'Chadic' names the language family, so together they denote the western branch/group of Chadic languages. This Geographic + family naming pattern is regular and cross-linguistically familiar, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.

Etymology

West Chadic gets its name from Chadic, a word that points to the area around Lake Chad, and West marks the western part of that area. So West Chadic means a 'group of languages' from the western Lake Chad area, such as Hausa.