ABSTRACT
The objective of the study was to survey and describe the pattern of gender marking in Zazzaganci. The study also sought to discover the difference(s) (if any) between the pattern of gender marking in the speech of the modern educated and the non-modern educated. The study used judgmental sampling technique and collected data through the recorded interview technique, test-frame (questionnaire), photo-identification technique and unsystematic observation. A total of eight hundred and thirty three respondents were used. The result of the shows that the pattern of the application of the stabilizer ne/ce in Zazzaganci tilts significantly towards the standard Hausa usage. The pattern of gender marking in Zazzaganci as it relates to other gender features (wanda/wadda, wani/wata, ta/naiya/ta etc) are surprisingly much near standard however. No significant difference was observed in the speeches of the modern educated and the non-modern educated in relation to the variable used in the study. The study concludes that Zazzaganci does not have a unique philosophy of gender different from that found in other Hausa dialects. Zazzaganci simply differs from other Hausa varieties in terms of its preponderant application of the masculine stabilizer in most context irrespective of the gender of the nouns/nominal concerned. Feminine gender is actually recognized in the dialect.