The two Hausa–Gwandara languages are: Based on nominal morphology and other grammatical patterns, Blench (2021) considers the Hausa–Gwandara branch to have been the first West Chadic branch to have split off from Proto-West Chadic.

[1] The Hausa–Gwandara languages have many words that are not found in other Chadic languages[2] because they are loans from Adamawa, Plateau, Kainji, Nupoid, and other Benue-Congo languages acquired during its expansion across the Nigerian Middle Belt.

While those languages became assimilated, many of their words had changed the lexicon of Hausa.

Some likely influence from vanished Nilo-Saharan languages on Hausa has been proposed.

[2] List of Hausa words of likely Benue-Congo origin:[2]