Zarma (also spelled Djerma, Dyabarma, Dyarma, Dyerma, Adzerma, Zabarma, Zarbarma, Zarma, Zarmaci, and Zerma) is a member of the Songhay languages. It is the leading indigenous language of the southwestern lobe of the West African nation of Niger, where the Niger River flows and the capital city, Niamey, is located, and it is the second leading for that entire nation, after Hausa, which is spoken in south central Niger. In earlier decades, it was known as Djerma. With over 2 million speakers, Zarma is far and away the most widely spoken of the Songhay languages. The two other major Songhay dialects or languages are spoken upriver in the neighboring nation of Mali. They are Koyraboro Senni, centered on the city of Gao, with about 400,000 speakers, and yet further upriver from Zarma territory, Koyra Chiini, centered on the eminent ancient university city of Timbuktu, with about 200,000 speakers. According to some reports, speakers of Zarma do not understand Koyraboro Senni.
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“The “sayings” of a community, its proverbs, are its characteristic comment upon life; they imply its history, suggest its attitude toward the world and its way of accepting life. Such an idiom makes the finest language any writer can have; and he can never get it with a notebook. He himself must be able to think and feel in that speech—it is a gift from heart to heart.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)