Dangantaka da Hulɗar Jama'a
Chapter Overview
Chapter 2 continues Unit I by turning from personal history toward the people in your life. You will discuss relationships — family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues — describe obligations you have toward others, talk about etiquette in different relationships, and learn how to disagree, apologize, and repair a misunderstanding without damaging a relationship. This chapter carries forward the completive narration, connectors, and reference-tracking systems introduced in Chapter 1 and applies them to a new communicative task: describing and discussing ongoing relationships rather than a one-time personal history.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Describe key relationships in your life, including family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
- Explain obligations and expectations within a relationship using consolidated TAM/aspect forms.
- Describe polite and impolite behavior appropriate to different relationships.
- State a disagreement respectfully and moderate its tone.
- Apologize and repair a misunderstanding in a social situation.
- Ask a partner about the people in their life and respond to their answers.
- Track reference to more than one person across a connected passage about relationships.
- Ask for clarification or repetition when a conversation about relationships is not understood.
- Read and interpret a short passage describing a relationship or a disagreement.
- Write a short, organized paragraph describing a relationship, an obligation, and how a disagreement was handled.
Communication Scenario
A week after their introductions in Chapter 1, Halima and Sule are paired for a class discussion activity. The instructor asks them to talk about the important people in their lives and about a time they disagreed with someone close to them but were able to resolve it. As they talk, Sule mentions a small misunderstanding with his older brother, and Halima describes her obligations to her aging grandmother. This chapter follows their conversation and asks you to prepare a similar discussion of your own relationships.
- No new vocabulary domain beyond relationships, obligation, etiquette, and disagreement/repair terms is introduced in this chapter; personal-history vocabulary from Chapter 1 and identity vocabulary from Volume II remain active.
- No new grammar system is introduced. This chapter continues to consolidate independent pronouns, subject-reference patterns, and completive/future forms already active since Volume II, and extends reference tracking to passages involving two or more people.
- This chapter continues Unit I, which will be formally assessed in Chapter 5.
- Vocabulary and grammar from Chapter 1, and from Volume I and Volume II, remain fully active and are expected to appear accurately throughout this chapter's tasks.
Core Vocabulary
The table below presents the highest-value relationship, obligation, etiquette, and disagreement/repair vocabulary this chapter's discussion depends on. Personal-history vocabulary from Chapter 1 and greetings/pronouns from Volume II remain active and are not repeated here.
| Boko | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| dangantaka | relationship | feminine noun; from danganta, to relate/connect |
| ɗan'uwa / 'yar'uwa | brother / sister | masculine/feminine pair; plural 'yan'uwa |
| maƙwabci | neighbor | masculine noun; plural maƙwabta |
| abokin aiki | colleague, co-worker | compound: aboki (friend) + aiki (work) |
| hakki / wajibi | obligation, duty | hakki is a right/due owed; wajibi is a required duty |
| ladabi | courtesy, respectful manners | feminine noun; central to relationship etiquette |
| sabani | disagreement, dispute | masculine noun; from saba, to differ |
| gafara | forgiveness, pardon | used in the fixed apology formula ka/ki yi haƙuri and in neman gafara, seeking forgiveness |
| sulhu | reconciliation, settlement | masculine noun; yin sulhu, to reconcile |
| fahimtar juna | mutual understanding | fahimta (understanding) + juna (each other) |
Pronunciation Focus
This chapter's pronunciation focus continues consolidating tone and vowel length in a recycled-pattern vocabulary set. Pay particular attention to the vowel length in maƙwabci (neighbor) and the tone contrast between hakki (obligation) and similar-sounding words, since confusing these can change the meaning of a sentence about duties and rights. As in Chapter 1, keep an even syllable rhythm across full sentences, especially when a sentence names more than one person and shifts between them.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
This chapter introduces no new grammar system. It continues to consolidate independent pronouns, subject-reference patterns, and completive/future forms already active since Volume II, and extends the reference-tracking work begun in Chapter 1 to passages involving two or more people.
2.1 Reviewing: Describing obligations with hakki and wajibi
- Hakkina ne in taimaka wa kakata, don haka nakan zo wurinta kowace mako.It is my duty to help my grandmother, so I usually come to her place every week.
- Wajibi ne mu girmama manya a cikin iyali.It is obligatory for us to respect elders within the family.
The habitual marker nakan/kan and the identity-predicate pattern with ne/ce, both consolidated since Volume II, are recycled here to state general obligations rather than one-time actions.
2.2 Reviewing: Narrating and stating a disagreement
As with the sequencing pattern in Chapter 1, amma daga baya introduces a later, contrasting stage. Here it moves a narration from disagreement to reconciliation, using the same completive forms already consolidated in Volume II.
2.3 Reviewing: Apologizing and requesting forgiveness
- Ina neman gafararka. Ban yi niyyar ɓata maka rai ba.I am asking for your forgiveness. I did not intend to upset you.
- Ka yi haƙuri, wataƙila ban fahimce ka sosai ba.Please forgive me, perhaps I did not understand you well.
The formulaic apology ka/ki yi haƙuri and the negative completive pattern ban ... ba, both recycled from Volume II, combine here with the hedging expression wataƙila to soften an apology, consistent with the register practices introduced in Chapter 1.
2.4 Extending: Reference tracking with two or more people
When a passage describes a relationship, it usually names at least two people. Track each person clearly with pronouns or omitted subjects once each has been introduced, and be careful that the reader or listener can always tell who is doing what.
- Sule yana da ɗan'uwa mai suna Bello. Bello ya fi shi girma, kuma sukan yi magana kowace rana ta wayar salula.Sule has a brother named Bello. Bello is older than him, and they usually talk every day by mobile phone."Sule" and "Bello" named once each; "shi" (him) and "sukan" (they, habitual) track them afterward
Atisayen ƙa'ida — Grammar practice: Complete each sentence with the word or expression that fits.
- ___ (Hakkina/Sabani) ne in taimaka wa iyayena idan sun tsufa.
- Mun yi sabani, ___ (amma daga baya/domin) mun yi sulhu.
- Ina neman gafararka, ___ (wataƙila/tunda) ban fahimce ka sosai ba.
- Halima tana da 'yar'uwa mai suna Zainab. ___ (Zainab/Ita) ta fi ta ƙanana.
Model Dialogue
Yanayin hali: A cikin aji, malami ya haɗa Sule da Halima domin su tattauna game da dangantakarsu da mutanen kusa da su.
(Setting: In class, the instructor pairs Sule and Halima to discuss their relationships with the people close to them.)
Tambayoyin fahimta — Comprehension questions:
- Who is Bello, and what was the disagreement between him and Sule about?
- How was the disagreement between Sule and Bello resolved?
- What point does Halima ask Sule to clarify, and why?
- What obligation does Halima describe toward her grandmother?
- What general statement does Sule make about respecting elders?
Guided Practice
Aikin gane — Recognition: Underline every obligation expression, apology formula, and reference-tracking pronoun in the Model Dialogue.
Aikin zaɓi — Selection: Choose the correct word for each blank: (1) Mun yi sabani, ___ (amma daga baya/domin) mun yi sulhu. (2) ___ (Hakkina/Sulhu) ne in taimaka wa iyayena.
Aikin gyara maimaici — Reference-tracking correction: Rewrite the following short passage, replacing unnecessary name repetition with pronouns or omitted subjects where natural: Bello yana da ɗan'uwa mai suna Sule. Bello ya fi Sule girma. Bello da Sule sukan yi magana kowace rana.
Aikin haɗawa — Sentence-combination practice: Combine each pair of short sentences into one connected sentence using amma daga baya, domin, or kuma: (a) Mun yi sabani. Bai gaya mini gaskiya ba. (b) Na yi masa gafara. Ɗan'uwana ne.
Listening Practice
Ask your instructor, a partner, or a text-to-speech tool to read the following passage aloud, twice. Answer the questions after listening. This task assesses your comprehension of a connected passage about a relationship and a disagreement.
Sauraro — Sabanin Amina da Maƙwabciyarta (Listening: Amina's Disagreement with Her Neighbor)
"Amina tana da maƙwabciya mai suna Ladi. Su biyu suna dangantaka mai kyau, kuma sukan taimaki juna a gida. Amma wata rana, Amina ta yi sabani da Ladi domin Ladi ta ari wani abu daga wurinta ba tare da izini ba. Amina ta ɓata rai sosai, don haka ba ta yi magana da Ladi na tsawon kwana biyu ba. Daga baya, Ladi ta zo wurin Amina domin neman gafara, kuma ta bayyana cewa ba ta yi niyyar ɓata mata rai ba. Amina ta yi mata haƙuri, kuma su biyu suka yi sulhu. Yanzu suna dangantaka mafi kyau fiye da da, domin sun fahimci juna."
Kula na sauraro — Questions: (1) Who is Ladi, and how is her relationship with Amina described at first? (2) Why did Amina and Ladi have a disagreement? (3) What did Amina do for two days? (4) How was the disagreement resolved, and how is the relationship described now?
Rubutun sauraro don malami, abokin karatu, ko amfani da rubutun lantarki. Duba amsoshi a sashi na amsoshi.
(Listening Script for Instructor, Partner, or Text-to-Speech Use. See Answer Key for expected responses.)
Speaking Practice
Atisayen ƙa'ida — Controlled substitution drill
With a partner, take turns naming one relationship in your life, one obligation you have within it, and one courtesy you show that person, using the sentence patterns from Sections 2.1 and 2.4.
Tattaunawa — Communicative task
With a partner, role-play the discussion scene from the Model Dialogue, but describe a real or invented disagreement you had with someone close to you and how it was resolved. Include at least one apology or forgiveness expression, one reference-tracking pronoun for a second person, and one moment where your partner asks you to clarify something.
Madadin karatu kai tsaye — Solo alternative
Record yourself describing a relationship in your life in at least eight connected sentences: who the person is, one obligation or courtesy within the relationship, a disagreement you had (real or invented), and how it was resolved, tracking both people without repeating names unnecessarily.
Reading Practice
Read the short passage below. Underline every obligation or courtesy expression, circle every apology or forgiveness expression, and put a box around every instance of pronoun reference tracking.
Karatu — Dangantakar Yusuf da Abokin Aikinsa (Reading: Yusuf's Relationship with His Colleague)
Yusuf yana da abokin aiki mai suna Garba. Su biyu suna aiki tare a wata ƙaramar kamfani, kuma sukan taimaki juna idan aikin ya yi yawa. Wata rana, Yusuf ya yi sabani da Garba domin Garba bai gama aikin da ya kamata ba a kan lokaci, wanda hakan ya sa Yusuf ya sha wahala. Yusuf bai ɓoye jinjinsa ba, kuma ya gaya wa Garba yadda yake ji. Garba ya yi masa haƙuri, kuma ya bayyana cewa yana da matsalar lafiya a wancan lokacin. Bayan sun tattauna, su biyu suka fahimci juna, kuma yanzu suna aiki cikin natsuwa, domin sun koyi yadda ake magana a fili idan akwai matsala.
Tambayoyin fahimta — Comprehension questions:
- Who is Garba, and what is his relationship to Yusuf?
- What caused the disagreement between Yusuf and Garba?
- How did Garba explain his side of the situation?
- How do Yusuf and Garba work together now, and what did they learn?
Writing Workshop
- Karanta labarin da hankali. Reread Yusuf and Garba's story and notice how it links a relationship, an obligation or expectation, a disagreement, and a resolution into one connected passage.
- Tsarawa. Plan a short passage of your own (real or invented) describing a relationship, an obligation or courtesy within it, a disagreement, and how it was resolved.
- Rubuta. Write 100–130 words in Hausa. Include a clear identification of the other person, a description of an obligation or courtesy, a disagreement described with completive forms, an apology or forgiveness expression, and at least one instance of reference tracking for the other person.
- Duba jerin bincike. Check your draft against the checklist below.
- Rubuta siffa ta ƙarshe. Produce a clean final version.
Jerin binciken gyara — Editing checklist:
- The other person in the relationship is clearly identified.
- An obligation or courtesy is described accurately.
- A disagreement is narrated using completive forms and a sequencing connector.
- An apology or forgiveness expression appears where appropriate.
- The other person is tracked afterward with a pronoun or omitted subject, not repeated by name.
- Prior systems from Chapter 1 and Volume II (TAM/aspect, pronouns, connectors) remain accurate where they appear.
- No grammar or vocabulary beyond the cumulative Chapter 1–2 scope appears.
- Special characters (ɓ, ɗ, ƙ, ƴ) and the apostrophe/glottal convention are used accurately.
Culture and Communication
Obligations toward family members, especially elders, are commonly emphasized in Hausa-speaking communities, but the specific expectations vary by family, household structure, region, and generation. Some households place strong emphasis on regular visits and direct financial support; others express the same underlying value of care differently. Presenting one household's practice, as in Halima's account of visiting her grandmother, as a reasonable example rather than a universal rule is a more accurate way to describe this variation.
Directness in expressing disagreement and the specific phrasing used to apologize can vary across communities, generations, and settings. This chapter uses widely understood, generally polite expressions; more indirect or more direct styles, and community-specific formulas, are introduced for recognition in later chapters when the topic requires them.
Common Mistakes
Error: *Bello yana da ɗan'uwa mai suna Sule. Bello ya fi Sule girma. Bello da Sule sukan yi magana kowace rana. (repeating both full names in every sentence of a passage about two people)
Correction: Bello yana da ɗan'uwa mai suna Sule. Ya fi shi girma, kuma sukan yi magana kowace rana. — Once both people have been named, continue with pronouns, exactly as practiced with a single person in Chapter 1.
Error: *Wajibi na ne in taimaka wa kakata. (using wajibi as though it took a possessive pronoun in the same way as hakki)
Correction: Hakkina ne in taimaka wa kakata. or Wajibi ne in taimaka wa kakata. — Hakki is typically possessed (hakkina, "my duty/right"), while wajibi functions as a predicate describing what is obligatory and does not normally take a possessive pronoun in the same way.
Chapter Summary
This chapter introduced relationship, obligation, etiquette, and disagreement/repair vocabulary and applied the completive narration forms, sequencing connectors, and habitual and future forms already consolidated in Volume II and Chapter 1 to a new communicative task: describing relationships, obligations, and the resolution of disagreements. It also extended reference tracking from a single named person to passages naming two people, continuing the connected-discourse work of Unit I.
Chapter Review
Sashi na A — Kalmomi (Vocabulary)
1. Give the Hausa for: relationship, brother/sister, neighbor, colleague, obligation/duty, courtesy, disagreement, forgiveness, reconciliation, mutual understanding.
Sashi na B — Nahawu (Grammar)
1. Write two sentences describing an obligation, using hakki or wajibi.
2. Write one sentence describing a disagreement and its resolution, linked with amma daga baya.
3. Rewrite this passage to correct unnecessary name repetition: Ladi tana da maƙwabciya mai suna Amina. Ladi ta ari abu daga Amina. Ladi ta koma neman gafara daga Amina.
Sashi na C — Karatu da Rubutu
1. Reread Yusuf and Garba's story and summarize it in three to four English sentences.
2. Write your 100–130-word passage about a relationship, following the Writing Workshop instructions.
Sashi na D — Magana
1. With a partner or instructor, perform the communicative task from the Speaking Practice section.
Practical Performance Task
Aikin Aiwatarwa — Chapter 2 Performance
Dangantakata da Wani — My Relationship With Someone
Complete all four components, drawing on vocabulary and grammar from this chapter, Chapter 1, and Volume II:
- Listening: Listen to Amina and Ladi's story and answer the comprehension questions.
- Speaking: With a partner, role-play a discussion of a relationship, including an obligation or courtesy, a disagreement, its resolution, and one instance of communication repair.
- Reading: Read Yusuf and Garba's story and answer the comprehension questions.
- Writing: Submit your 100–130-word connected passage about a relationship.
Evaluation criteria: clear identification of the other person; accurate description of an obligation or courtesy; accurate completive narration of a disagreement with an appropriate connector; a natural apology or forgiveness expression; reference tracking across the passage; accurate integration of TAM/aspect, pronouns, and connectors carried forward from Chapter 1 and Volume II; natural use of communication repair; accurate ordinary Boko spelling and special characters. Consistent with B1 developmental expectations, comprehensible and task-fulfilling communication should not be penalized as though produced by an advanced speaker.
Independent Study Tools
Self-check: Can you describe a relationship in your life, an obligation or courtesy within it, a disagreement, and how it was resolved, tracking both people across the whole passage, without looking back at this chapter? If not, review Sections 2.1–2.4 before submitting your final performance task.
Vocabulary review method: Add this chapter's relationship, obligation, and disagreement/repair vocabulary to your Volume III flashcard set, and quiz yourself on which words describe people, duties, courtesy, and repair.
Extra practice: Write or record two additional short passages describing relationships, one about a family member and one about a friend or colleague, and check your work against this chapter's checklist before moving to Chapter 3.
Answer Key / Amsoshi
Aikin zaɓi (Word selection)
- Mun yi sabani, amma daga baya mun yi sulhu.
- Hakkina ne in taimaka wa iyayena.
Aikin gyara maimaici (Reference-tracking correction)
Sample: Bello yana da ɗan'uwa mai suna Sule. Ya fi shi girma, kuma sukan yi magana kowace rana. (Other natural revisions that reduce repetition are acceptable.)
Aikin haɗawa (Sentence-combination practice)
Sample: (a) Mun yi sabani domin bai gaya mini gaskiya ba. (b) Na yi masa gafara domin ɗan'uwana ne. (Other accurate combinations are acceptable.)
Atisayen ƙa'ida (Grammar practice, Section 2)
- Hakkina ne in taimaka wa iyayena idan sun tsufa.
- Mun yi sabani, amma daga baya mun yi sulhu.
- Ina neman gafararka, wataƙila ban fahimce ka sosai ba.
- Halima tana da 'yar'uwa mai suna Zainab. Ita ta fi ta ƙanana.
Tambayoyin fahimta na tattaunawa (Dialogue comprehension)
- Bello is Sule's older brother; their disagreement was about money they had saved together, which Bello did not tell the truth about.
- They reconciled, and Sule forgave Bello because he apologized sincerely and is his brother.
- Halima asks Sule to clarify who hid the truth from whom, because his explanation was unclear at first.
- Halima helps her elderly grandmother and visits her every week.
- Sule states that respecting elders is an obligation in every family.
Kula na sauraro (Listening responses)
(1) Ladi is Amina's neighbor, and their relationship is described as good, with the two helping each other at home. (2) They disagreed because Ladi borrowed something from Amina without permission. (3) Amina did not speak to Ladi for two days. (4) Ladi came to apologize and explained she had not meant to upset Amina; they forgave each other and reconciled, and their relationship is now described as better than before.
Tambayoyin karatu (Reading comprehension)
- Garba is Yusuf's colleague; they work together at a small company.
- The disagreement arose because Garba did not finish his work on time, which caused Yusuf difficulty.
- Garba apologized and explained that he had a health problem at that time.
- They now work together calmly, having learned to speak openly when there is a problem.
Sashi na B (Chapter Review grammar)
- Sample: Wajibi ne mu girmama manya a cikin iyali. (Other accurate sentences are acceptable.)
- Sample: Mun yi sabani, amma daga baya mun yi sulhu.
- Ladi tana da maƙwabciya mai suna Amina. Ta ari abu daga wurinta, sa'an nan ta koma neman gafara daga gare ta.
Sashi na C (Sample writing)
Ina da abokin aiki mai suna Ibrahim. Muna aiki tare, kuma hakkina ne in taimaka masa idan aiki ya yi masa wuya. Wata rana, mun yi sabani domin bai gama rabonsa na aikin ba a kan lokaci. Na gaya masa yadda nake ji, kuma ya yi mini haƙuri, ya bayyana cewa yana da matsala a gida a wancan lokacin. Bayan mun tattauna, muka fahimci juna, kuma yanzu muna aiki tare cikin natsuwa.
Other accurate, well-formed passages meeting the stated requirements are equally acceptable.
Looking Ahead
Abin da ka/ki koya — What you have learned
This chapter carried forward pronouns, completive narration, sequencing connectors, and habitual/future expressions from Chapter 1 and Volume II and applied them to a new task: describing relationships, obligations, disagreement, and repair. It also extended reference tracking to passages naming two people, continuing the connected-discourse work of Unit I.