A Study of Hausa Language Features in Nollywood Hausa Films: Genre, Dialogue, and Authenticity

The Kannywood film industry, the Hausa-language branch of Nigerian popular cinema centred in Kano, produces a large volume of feature films annually, making it one of Africa's most productive vernacular film industries. This study examines linguistic features of Hausa dialogue in a sample of Kannywood films, evaluating genre-specific language use, authenticity of cultural representation, and the incorporation of code-mixing and contemporary Hausa speech styles. A film language analysis design was adopted, applying close linguistic analysis to the dialogue of 10 Kannywood films from five genres including romance, comedy, action, family drama, and religious narrative, released between 2021 and 2023. Analysis focused on vocabulary registers, code-mixing patterns, use of formulaic expressions, and the relationship between character sociolinguistic profiles and dialogue style. Focus group reception screenings with 30 Hausa viewers in Kano assessed authenticity perceptions. Findings reveal that Kannywood dialogue reflects a broadly recognisable contemporary Kano Hausa urban register, with significant code-mixing with English in character portrayals of educated or professional characters. Religious drama films employ the most conservative and classical Hausa register, while comedy films show the highest density of slang and lexical innovation. Viewers generally rate Kannywood dialogue as authentic to contemporary Hausa urban speech. Recommendations include collaboration between Kannywood producers and Hausa linguists to elevate dialogue quality and develop style guides for different genre registers. Keywords: Kannywood, Hausa films, Dialogue analysis, Film language, Kano.