"Kanuri is a Western Saharan language of the Saharan branch of the Nilo-Saharan family and is spoken in Nigeria (in parts of Sokoto, Gongola, Kaduna, Kanu, Bauchi states and most predominantly in Bornu State), in Niger (in the eastern prefectures of Zinder and Diffa, with some speakers also found in the Bilima arrondissement of the Agadez prefecture), and in Cameroon. Its sister language Kanembu is spoken in Chad around the northern, eastern and southern shores of the disappearing Lake Chad" (Hutchison, personal communication, 1985).
UBS (1982) states 3.5 million; Brann (personal communication, 1983) and World Almanac (1998) states there are about 4 million speakers, while Voegelin and Voegelin (1977) list "about a million speakers." Heine (1970), drawing from Westermann and Bryan (1952), lists approximately one million. Hutchison (personal communication, 1985) states: "Given the very significant population of speakers of Kanuri in Nigeria, I suggest that Brann's estimate (personal communication, 1983) of approximately four million speakers is the most accurate."
Hutchison (personal communication, 1985) reports "Kanuri is one of the major national languages in Nigeria and of Niger. It is one of the twelve languages selected for implementation in the Universal Primary Education Program and in Niger it is one of five nationals being implemented in the primary program of educational reform."
"A standardized Romanized orthography (known in Nigeria as the Standard Kanuri Orthography) was developed and officially approved by the Kanuri Language Board in Maiduguri, Nigeria, in 1975. The Borno Local Authority established a committee for the development of an official Ajami (Arabic script) orthography of Kanuri, but the work was never completed. (Kanuri was one of the languages whose alphabet was discussed at the 1966 UNESCO Bamako meeting.) The Republic of Niger is presently developing its own standardized orthography of Kanuri. Since there is far greater dialect diversity in Niger than in Nigeria, this task is far more difficult, as will be the task of attempting to harmonize this orthography with Nigeria's Standard Kanuri orthography" (Hutchison, personal communication, 1985).
One set of language learning materials should be sufficient.
Copyright ©2006 African Studies Center. For questions or comments about this site, please contact the Webmaster.