Serer, often broken into differing regional dialects such as Serer-Sine and Serer saloum, is a language of the
kingdoms of Sine and Saloum branch of
Niger–Congo spoken by 1.2 million people in
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...
and 30,000 in
the Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 c ...
as of 2009. It is the principal language of the
Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. .
Classification
Serer is one of the
Senegambian languages, which are characterized by
consonant mutation
Consonant mutation is change in a consonant in a word according to its morphological or syntactic environment.
Mutation occurs in languages around the world. A prototypical example of consonant mutation is the initial consonant mutation of all ...
. The traditional classification of Atlantic is that of Sapir (1971), which found that Serer was closest to
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
. However, a widely cited misreading of the data by Wilson (1989) inadvertently exchanged Serer for
Wolof.
Dialects of Serer are Serer Sine (the
prestige dialect), Segum, Fadyut-Palmerin, Dyegueme (Gyegem), and
Niominka. They are
mutually intelligible except for the Sereer spoken in some of the areas surrounding the city of
Thiès.
Not all
Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. speak Serer. About 200,000 speak
Cangin languages. Because the speakers are ethnically Serer, they are commonly thought to be Serer dialects. However, they are not closely related, and Serer is significantly closer to Fulani (also called Pulbe, Pulaar, or Fulbe) than it is to Cangin.
Phonology
Consonants
The
voiceless implosives are highly unusual sounds.
Vowels
Writing system
Greetings
The following greetings and responses are spoken in most regions of Senegal that have Serer speakers.
* ''Nam fi'o?'' ('how are you doing?')
* ''Mexe meen'' ('I am here')
* ''Ta mbind na?'' ('how is the family' or more literally 'how is the house?')
* ''Awa maa'' ('they are good' or more literally 'they are there')
Spatial awareness is very important in Sereer. For example, this exchange is only for when the household in question is not nearby. Certain grammatical changes would occur if the greetings were exchanged in a home that the greeter has just entered:
*''Ta mbind ne?'' ('how is the family/house
hich is here')
*''Awa meen'' ('they are good' or more literally 'they are here')
In Senegalese Sereer culture like many cultures in that region, greetings are very important. Sometimes, people will spend several minutes greeting each other.
See also
*
Cangin languages
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
Sereer Grammar - Sereer wikiDecree No. 2005-990 of 21 October 2005 relating to the spelling and the separation of words in Serervia the website of the ''Journal officiel''
{{Authority control
Languages of Senegal
Languages of the Gambia
Languages of Mauritania