Following on from a recent introductory post on African language material in the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) collection, this post focuses on Hausa language material in the recently acquired papers of Jean Boyd (1934-2022). Boyd was a teacher, educationalist and researcher based in Northern Nigeria between 1957 and 1984. Continue reading “Hausa language material in the RCS collection”
Tag: Hausa
An introduction to African language material in the RCS collection, new and old
In this post, we give an overview of African language material available in the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) collection, with news of a significant new collection relating to Northern Nigeria.
Existing resources:
The RCS print collection includes 16 shelves of language material, with over half relating to African languages. The collection must once have been substantial but some material was dispersed in the 1980s before the RCS library was transferred to Cambridge. In its current form, the language material comprises dictionaries, grammars, books of sayings and teach yourself manuals covering Arabic, Swahili, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Mende, Kikuyu, Bini [Edo], Ewe, Bantu [a broad umbrella term for a family of languages spoken in central and southern Africa] and Tiv, mostly dating from the early to mid-20th century. Continue reading “An introduction to African language material in the RCS collection, new and old”
Languages across Borders 