Locale Ha 001

Reference data for the Hausa locale — endonym Harshen Hausa, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: ha-001
• ISO 639-1: ha
• ISO 639-3: hau
• Script: Latn (Latin)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 58,000,000
• L2 (additional): 36,000,000
• L1+L2 (total): 94,000,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Hausa. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

• Locale Ha Ng (Hausa (Nigeria))

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — n = 1 (e.g. 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Hausa is a Chadic language of Nigeria and Niger, written in the Latin script (boko) with hooked letters ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ƴ, and historically in the Arabic-based Ajami script. See Locale Ha Ng.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Hausa has subject-verb-object order and uses aspect-marking pronoun sets (completive, continuous, subjunctive) instead of English tenses: Na adana fayil (I saved a file), Ina adana fayil (I am saving a file). Choose the aspect that matches the meaning.
• Hausa has two genders (masculine, feminine). The second person singular distinguishes masculine kai from feminine ke; the plural is ku. UI text commonly avoids the gender by using a plural or an impersonal form.
• Use established Hausa terms where they exist (from Bayero University's Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages and Hausa media) and adopt loanwords in Hausa spelling (kwamfuta, intanet).
• Re-express idioms and proverbs by meaning.

Register.

• Hausa culture values courtesy and greetings (Sannu, Ina kwana, Barka); formal text uses the plural forms and honorifics (Malam, Alhaji, Hajiya, Dr.).
• UI commands use the imperative or an impersonal form; keep one convention.

Orthography and typography.

• Use the hooked letters ɓ ɗ ƙ ƴ and the glottal stop ('); substituting b, d, k, and y' changes words. Standard orthography does not mark tone or vowel length; add them only in teaching material.
• Currency naira (₦); decimal point; comma thousands separator; dates 17 ga Oktoba, 2026.

Common pitfalls

• Substituting ordinary b, d, k, and y for ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, and ƴ.
• Mixing the aspect markers incorrectly.
• Using the wrong gender for "you".

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages, Bayero University Kano
• Ƙamus ɗin Hausa (Hausa dictionary by Bargery or Newman)