A Typological Study of Hausa in the Context of Afro-Asiatic Language Family Research

Hausa occupies a significant position within the Afro-Asiatic language family as the most widely spoken member of the Chadic branch, yet its typological characteristics remain underrepresented in comparative Afro-Asiatic research relative to the better-documented Semitic and Berber branches. This doctoral study conducts an original typological analysis of Hausa within the Afro-Asiatic context, examining the distribution of Hausa typological features relative to proposed Proto-Afro-Asiatic reconstructions and the broader Chadic branch, and generating original contributions to Afro-Asiatic historical comparative linguistics. Drawing on formal typological theory, historical reconstruction methodology, and extensive documentation of Chadic language comparative data, the research employs a theoretically rigorous comparative descriptive methodology. A comprehensive typological profile of Hausa was constructed across 200 typological parameters covering phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, using the World Atlas of Language Structures typological framework as a baseline. Comparative analysis against documented typological profiles of 35 other Afro-Asiatic languages examines the distribution of shared and divergent typological features. Original historical linguistic analysis reconstructs the likely typological profile of Proto-West-Chadic and evaluates the degree to which Hausa either retains or innovates relative to reconstructed ancestral features. Original contributions include a Hausa Typological Profile Database publicly available for comparative research, a revised assessment of Hausa's position within proposed West Chadic subgroupings, and new evidence bearing on disputed features of Proto-Afro-Asiatic reconstruction. Keywords: Hausa typology, Afro-Asiatic, Chadic languages, Comparative linguistics, Historical reconstruction.