Indigenous knowledge in Africa, and theworld over, is expressed in language, and usually in an"indigenous" language - in short, the mothertongue of inhabitants of the locality, or a lingua franca inregular usage by them. Are these languages simply a neutralmedium? Are they just instrumental "vehicles" forthe expression of local knowledge and daily life? Or do thelanguages themselves play some role, by their very structureand usage, in what is thought and known? The examples inthis Note are principally drawn from Hausa, the second mostwidespread tongue in Africa and a member of the"Chadic" group of languages. It is principallyspoken in northern Nigeria and central Niger, but is used aswell as in several other countries of the region. Thepatterns are nonetheless roughly representative of a host ofwestern and central African language traditions.
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