This book is the first comprehensive account of any West African sign language. It is a descriptive analysis of Hausa Sign Language (HSL) as used by deaf people in the Hausa-speaking areas of northern Nigeria.
The book introduces the reader to the deaf community in Kano State and their education and gives some background information on sign language studies in Africa.
The main part of the book is devoted to the presentation and analysis of the phonology, morphology and lexicon of HSL. The analysis does not follow any particular model; however, each chapter is introduced with an overview of different models of analysis and current issues of debate. Where necessary or useful, comparison with better researched sign languages is included.
Documentation of sign languages such as HSL will help in testing and possibly modifying existing models of sign language structure.
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