A Hausa botanical vocabulary — Key Ideas to Explore

A HAUSA BOTANICAL VOCABULARY

A HAUSA BOTANICAL VOCABULARY

BY JOHN M. DALZIEL, M.D., B.Sc., D.T.M. West African Medical Staff

T. FISHER UNWIN LTD. LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE

_First published in 1916._

(_All rights reserved_)

A HAUSA BOTANICAL VOCABULARY

=abakuru=, a food made from the ground-bean; _vide_ under =kwaruru=.

=abantoko=, a var. of =dawa= _q.v._

=abawa=, _vide_ under =abduga=.

=abduga= or =auduga=, indigenous species of Gossypium (Malvaceæ)—G. peruvianum, Cav. G. punctatum, Sch. et Thon. G. obtusifolium, Roxb. G. arboreum, L. with varieties, hybrids and other introduced species. The Cotton Plant or raw cotton. Syn. =kaḍa= (Sok.). Varieties known in different districts are:—_ba ka tuka_, or _ba tuka_, _ya tabshi_, _ya tsauri_, or _ya ḳarifi_, _kwanta Ali da zugu_, _Ba-Gwandare_, _yar gari_ (G. obtusifolium, var. africana, Watt.), _gwundi_ (G. peruvianum var. with red leaf veins), _chukwi_, _laḅayi_ (G. punctatum), and _kanawa_ or _matan kanawa_ (G. arboreum, L. var. sanguinea, Watt.); the leaves of the last or of _gwundi_ are used for making a red dye for thread. _guriya_ (Sok.), _anguriya_ (Kano), or _yan guriya_ = cotton seed; _sutu_ or _subtu_ = cotton freed from the seed by crushing with a stone and roller and pulled by hand before carding with the _masaḅi_ or _bakan shiḅa_ (cotton carding bow); _saḅi_ or _shiḅa_ = carded cotton; _zare_ = thinly plied cotton thread, used chiefly for the warp, and sometimes for warp and weft; _abawa_ (Kano), or _bartake_ (Sok.) = thicker loosely plied thread used for the weft; (the coarse cloth _goddo_, or _nuru_ (East Hausa), woven on a vertical loom in broad strips and with a fringe, has _abawa_ in warp and weft); _waḍari_ = cotton yarn ready for weaving; _fari_ (Kano) = woven cotton strips; _zugu_ (Sok.) = cotton strips in a roll (= _kunkurun fari_, Kano); _sawaye_ (Sok.) = the same unrolled; _taḅe_ (Sok.), or _chin aduga_ (Kano) = to pluck cotton out of the pod.

=abokin kibiya=, a tall grass used for arrow-shafts; _vide_ =ḳyamro=.

=aburu=, a grass used for food; _vide_ =iburu=.

=acha=, Digitaria exilis, Stapf. (Paspalum exile, Kipp.) (Gramineæ); a small grass cultivated as a cereal in several Hausa provinces, in Bornu, and by many pagan tribes. Syn. =intaya= (Sok. Kamberi, Kamuku, &c.), “Hungry Rice”. _cf._ also =tumbin jaki=.

=a chi da gero=, =a chi da kara=, =a chi da nono=, vars. of Guinea Corn; _vide_ under =dawa=.

=aduruku=, Newbouldia lævis, Sun. (Bignoniaceæ); a tall slender tree with handsome purple flowers; often planted around native compounds. Syn. =ba reshe?=

=aduwa=, Balanites ægyptiaca, Del. (Simarubeæ). “Desert Date”; a thorny tree common in the north, deciduous but with evergreen branches, bifoliate leaves and yellow bitter-sweet fruit; its gum = _ḳaron aduwa_; the seeds yield “Oil of Betu” (Kanuri, _bito_); _dabagira_ = flowers of _aduwa_, boiled and eaten with _daudawa_, _q.v._ salt and pepper; _kaikwaiyo_ (Sok. Kano, &c.) = the kernel, sold as a medicine. Fruit edible; a common ingredient in fish-poison.

=ago= or =agu= (Gwari); a fish-poison, prepared usually from Tephrosia Vogelii (_cf._ =baina=, _vide_ under =majimfa=); sometimes from the pods of Cassia spp. (_vide_ =gamma faḍa=, &c.); _cf._ =aduwa=.

=agugu=, a native drug; the rhizome of a fern used for tapeworm; probably = “Male Fern” (Nephrodium Filix-mas); not indigenous; brought chiefly from Adamawa.

=agushi=, the seeds of a var. of the Water Melon, Citrullus vulgaris (_vide_ =guna=); chewed raw or used in soup.

=aguwa= _vide_ =ḳaguwa=.

=akiye= or =akwiye=, the seeds of =kiriya=, _q.v._

=akwalu= (Kano and East), Trochomeria sp. (Cucurbitaceæ); a wild twiner with a large tuberous root, edible when cooked. Syn. =basko=, or =basgo= (West Sokoto).

=akwuya=, a var. of =dawa=, _q.v._

=alale=, Blighia sapida, Koenig (Sapindaceæ). “Akee apple”; a tree found in the southern provinces, with red capsular fruit; the spongy white aril around the seeds is edible. (?Nupé _ella_ = the name of the fruit). In Hausa generally called =Gwanja kusa=, _q.v._

=alambo=, Sesbania leptocarpa, DC. (Leguminosæ); a slender branched tree with yellow flowers and narrow jointed pods, common on river-banks. (Kanuri, _paiya paiya_). Other species are included, e.g. S. aculeata, Pers. S. ægyptiaca, Poir, &c.; _cf._ also =sasabani= and =zamarke=.

=alayafu=, Amaranthus caudatus, L. (Amaranthaceæ). Native spinage; an excellent cultivated vegetable; a red variety resembles the ornamental plant “Love-lies-bleeding.” =farin alayafu=, Celosia argentea, L. (Amaranthaceæ); an erect weed of fields, 1 to 2 feet high, with pink and silvery flowering spike, not cultivated but used as a pot-herb.

=albasa=, Allium Cepa, Willd. (Liliaceæ). The onion. Two varieties are distinguished, viz. _guda_ (Kano), or _gudaji_ (Sok.), the common bulbous onion; and _shafa_ (Kano), _safa_ (Sok.), the spring onion; _lawashi_ or _gabu_ (Sok.) = onion leaves pounded and dried, sold in the form of balls and used in soup. _cf._ =tafarnuwa=.

=albasar kura=, Urginea nigritiana, Bak. (Liliaceæ), and other common bulbous plants growing wild.