Serer language

Serer is one of the Senegambian languages, which are characterized by consonant mutation. The traditional classification of Atlantic languages is that of Sapir (1971), which found that Serer was closest to Fulani.[3] 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 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.

Serer today is primarily written in Latin alphabet . The Latin alphabet has been standardized in various government decrees, the latest of which was issued in 2005.[5]

However, historically, similar to Wolof language, its first writing system was the adaption of the Arabic Script. The Arabic script is used today as well, albeit in a smaller scale, and only mostly limited to Islamic school teachers and students. The Arabic-based script of Serer was set by the government as well, between 1985 and 1990, although never adopted by a decree, as the effort by the Senegalese ministry of education was to be part of a multi-national standardization effort.[6] The script is referred to as "Serer Ajami script" (In Serer: ajami seereer, اَجَمِ سࣹيرࣹيرْ‎).

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 [which 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.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Cangin languages

• Fall, Papa Oumar (2013). "The ethnolinguistic classification of Seereer in question". In Africa: Challenges of Multilingualism, Ds Altmayer, Claus / Wolff, H. Ekkehard, Peter Lang, Frankfurt Am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford: 47–60.
• McLaughlin, Fiona (1994). "Consonant mutation in Seereer-Siin". Studies in African Languages. 23: 279–313.
• McLaughlin, Fiona (2000). "Consonant mutation and reduplication in Seereer-Siin". Phonology. 17 (3): 333–363. doi:10.1017/S0952675701003955.
• Mc Laughlin, Fiona (2005), "Voiceless implosives in Seereer-Siin", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 201–214, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002215
• Crétois, L. (1972). Dictionnaire sereer-français (différents dialects) (in French). Dakar: Centre de Linguistique Appliquée de Dakar.
• Fal, A. (1980). Les nominaux en sereer-siin: Parler de Jaxaaw (in French). Dakar: Nouvelles Editions Africaines.
• Senghor, L. S. (1994). "L'harmonie vocalique en sérère (dialecte du Dyéguème)". Journal de la Société des Linguistes (in French). 14: 17–23.

Serer language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

• Sereer Grammar - Sereer wiki
• Decree No. 2005-990 of 21 October 2005 relating to the spelling and the separation of words in Serer via the website of the Journal officiel (in French)