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: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
and 30,000 in
the Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
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. The traditional classification of Atlantic is that of Sapir (1971), which found that Serer was closest to
Fulani. However, a widely cited misreading of the data by Wilson (1989) inadvertently exchanged Serer for
Wolof
Wolof or Wollof may refer to:
* Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania
* Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania
* The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...
.
Dialects of Serer are Serer Sine (the
prestige dialect
Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.)
Prestige may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Films
* ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett ...
), Segum, Fadyut-Palmerin, Dyegueme (Gyegem), and
Niominka. They are
mutually intelligible
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
except for the Sereer spoken in some of the areas surrounding the city of
Thiès
Thiès (; ar, ثيس, Ṯyass; Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St-L ...
.
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 implosive
Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants (and possibly also some affricates) with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism.''Phonetics for communication disorders.'' Martin J. Ball and Nicole Müller. ...
s 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
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
')
*''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