Native speakers 1.2 million (2006) ISO 639-2 srr | Standard forms Seereer-Siin | |
Native to Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Senegambian
Fula–Serer
Serer Regulated by CLAD (Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar) | ||
Serer, sometimes called Serer-Sine "Serer proper" (Seereer-Siin, etc.) after its prestige dialect, is a language of the Senegambian branch of Niger–Congo spoken by 1.2 million people in Senegal and 30,000 in the Gambia. It is the principal language of the Serer people.
Contents
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. Dialects of Serer are Serer Sine (the prestige dialect), Segum, Fadyut-Palmerin, Dyegueme (Gyegem), and Niominka. They are mutually intelligible.
Not all Serer people speak Serer. About 200,000 speak Cangin languages. Because the speakers are ethnically Serer, these are commonly thought to be Serer dialects. However, they are not closely related: Serer is significantly closer to Fulani than it is to Cangin.
Consonants
The voiceless implosives are also written ⟨ƥ ƭ ƈ ⟩; these are highly unusual sounds.
Serer greetings
The following greetings and responses are spoken in most regions of Senegal that have Serer speakers.
In Senegalese culture, greetings are very important. Sometimes, people will spend several minutes greeting each other.