Learn Hardcore Hausa: ’Yanci na kowa yana da muhimmanci sosai a cikin gida da a makaranta. - Everyone’s freedom is very important both at home and at school.

’Yanci – freedom, liberty, independence
na – of (possessive linker, here: of)
kowa – everyone, everybody
→ ’Yanci na kowa – freedom of everyone / everyone’s freedom
yana da – has / possesses (literally: he/it is with)
muhimmanci – importance, significance
sosai – very, very much, greatly
→ yana da muhimmanci sosai – (it) has great importance → (it) is very important
a – at / in
cikin – inside, within
gida – house, home
→ a cikin gida – in the home / within the household
da – and
a – at / in
makaranta – school
→ da a makaranta – and at school

Altogether: Everyone’s freedom has great importance in the home and at school → Everyone’s freedom is very important at home and at school.

What exactly does ’yanci mean? Is it freedom, independence, or rights?

’Yanci is an abstract noun that primarily means:

freedom, liberty
independence

In many contexts it overlaps with the idea of human rights, because freedom is a core part of that idea. So:

’yancin kai – independence (of a country or person)
’yancin faɗar albarkacin baki – freedom of speech

In your sentence, ’yanci na kowa is best understood as everyone’s freedom (or everyone’s rights/freedoms in a broader sense), but freedom or liberty is the central meaning.

Why is there an apostrophe at the beginning of ’yanci? Why not just yanci?

The initial sign in ’yanci represents a special Hausa consonant:

Standard Hausa uses the letter ƴ (a hooked y) for a palatal implosive sound.
On many keyboards that character is hard to type, so people write ’y instead (apostrophe + y).

So:

ƴanci (standard spelling)
’yanci (keyboard-friendly spelling, same pronunciation)

It is not a silent punctuation mark; it tells you this is a different sound from plain y, more like a “swallowed” or implosive y. In practice, many learners just pronounce it as y, and that’s usually understood.

What does na do in ’yanci na kowa?

Na here is a possessive/genitive linker meaning of.

’yanci – freedom
kowa – everyone
’yanci na kowa – freedom of everyone / everyone’s freedom

This na changes form depending on gender/number of what follows:

na – of (before masculine or plural noun/pronoun)
ta – of (before feminine noun/pronoun)

Examples:

motar Ali or mota ta Ali – Ali’s car (car of Ali, mota is feminine)
littafin ɗalibai or littafi na ɗalibai – book of the students

In your sentence, na kowa simply links ’yanci to kowa: freedom of everyone.

Could we also say ’yancin kowa instead of ’yanci na kowa? Is there any difference?

Yes, ’yancin kowa is also correct and very common. Both forms are used:

’yanci na kowa – freedom of everyone
’yancin kowa – everyone’s freedom

Grammatically:

’yanci
- -n → ’yancin: this -n is a genitive clitic that attaches to many nouns before another noun or pronoun.
na kowa is the analytic linker na placed as a separate word.

Often there is little or no difference in meaning. Stylistically:

’yancin kowa sounds slightly more compact and is very natural.
’yanci na kowa can sound a bit more explicit or careful, and is also fine.

You will hear and see both. For many practical purposes, you can treat them as interchangeable here.

What exactly does yana da muhimmanci sosai mean? Why is it not just muhimmi ne sosai?

Yana da muhimmanci sosai is literally:

yana da – it has / it possesses
muhimmanci – importance
sosai – very

So the literal sense is: it has a lot of importance → it is very important.

Hausa commonly uses subject + (ya/ta/ya-na, etc.) + da + abstract noun to express to be X in English:

Wannan batu yana da muhimmanci. – This issue is important.
Shirin nan yana da amfani. – This program is useful (has usefulness).

You could say:

’Yanci na kowa muhimmi ne sosai. – Everyone’s freedom is very important.

Here muhimmi is an adjective important, and ne is a copula particle. That is also grammatical, but:

yana da muhimmanci sosai is extremely common and sounds very natural.
muhimmi ne sosai is more overtly “adjectival” and may sound a bit more formal or bookish in everyday speech.

Both are acceptable; in normal conversation you will hear yana da muhimmanci sosai more.

What is muhimmanci exactly? Is it an adjective like important, or a noun like importance?

Muhimmanci is a noun meaning importance, significance.

Related forms:

muhimmi – important (adjective)
muhimmanci – importance (abstract noun)

So:

yana da muhimmanci sosai – it has a lot of importance → it is very important
abu mai muhimmanci – a thing that has importance / an important thing
muhimmi ne sosai – it is very important (using the adjective muhimmi)

In your sentence, the structure uses the noun muhimmanci with yana da.

Why is it yana da and not something like shi ne mai muhimmanci sosai?

Several different patterns can express “X is important” in Hausa. The most natural, everyday one here is:

X yana da muhimmanci sosai – X has great importance → X is very important.

Alternatives you might see/hear:

X muhimmi ne sosai. – X is very important.
X abu ne mai muhimmanci sosai. – X is a thing that is very important.

Why yana da?

ya/ta/yana da is a very common pattern meaning to have / to possess.
When the thing possessed is an abstract noun like muhimmanci (importance), it often translates naturally as to be important.

So shi ne mai muhimmanci sosai would be understood, but it is less idiomatic in this exact sentence than yana da muhimmanci sosai.

In ’yanci na kowa yana da muhimmanci sosai, what does yana refer to, and why is it masculine?

Yana is the 3rd person singular masculine form of ya na (he/it is / he/it has), used with verbs or with da for possession.

In your sentence:

Subject: ’yanci na kowa – everyone’s freedom
Verb phrase: yana da muhimmanci sosai – has great importance / is very important

Hausa often treats many abstract nouns and inanimate nouns as grammatically masculine by default, so you use the masculine pronoun/verb form ya– / yana:

Littafi yana da amfani. – The book is useful (has usefulness).
Gida yana da faɗi. – The house is spacious.

Similarly:

’Yanci na kowa yana da muhimmanci sosai.

So yana refers back to ’yanci na kowa, and it is masculine because that is the usual grammatical gender for such an abstract noun.

What does sosai add, and where does it usually go in the sentence?

Sosai is an intensifier meaning very, very much, a lot, greatly.

In your sentence:

muhimmanci sosai – great importance / very important

Typical placements:

After adjectives: kyau sosai – very good
After verbs: Ina sonka sosai. – I love you very much.
After abstract nouns used with da: yana da muhimmanci sosai.

You could also put sosai earlier for different emphasis, but the most natural position in this structure is right after muhimmanci: muhimmanci sosai.

What exactly does a cikin gida mean, and how is it different from just a gida?

Both relate to being at/in home, but there is a nuance:

a gida – at home / at the house
a cikin gida – inside the house / within the home, within the household

Components:

a – in/at (general location preposition)
cikin – inside, within
gida – house, home

So a cikin gida literally means in the inside of the house, and is often used more broadly as within the home environment / within the family/household context, not just the physical building.

In your sentence, a cikin gida nicely suggests freedom being important within the home / family setting, not only in a literal room.

Why does the sentence say a cikin gida da a makaranta instead of a cikin gida da makaranta? Is repeating a before makaranta necessary?

In a cikin gida da a makaranta, we have two separate location phrases joined by da (and):

a cikin gida – in the home / within the household
a makaranta – at school

They are linked with da:

a cikin gida da a makaranta – at home and at school

Repeating a before makaranta:

makes it very clear that both locations take the preposition a;
keeps the two phrases nicely parallel.

You could say a gida da a makaranta, or a cikin gida da makaranta in some contexts, and people would still understand you, but:

a cikin gida da a makaranta is very natural and clearly shows two distinct places: within the home and at school.

So repeating a is not absolutely obligatory in every possible sentence, but it is common and stylistically good here.

The word da appears twice in the sentence: in yana da muhimmanci and in gida da a makaranta. Does da mean the same thing in both places?

No, da has different functions in these two spots:

Yana da muhimmanci sosai
- Here da is used in the “have/possess” construction.
- yana da muhimmanci – it has importance → it is important.
a cikin gida da a makaranta
- Here da is a coordinating conjunction meaning and.
- gida da a makaranta – at home and at school.

So:

da in yana da ≈ with / has
da in gida da a makaranta ≈ and

This double role of da is normal in Hausa; context and position tell you which meaning is intended.