Adpositions

Adpositions indicate the semantic relationship between two nouns in a construction. Cross-linguistically, adpositions are primarily used to encode spatial relationships. In Sereer, most adpositions are used to inidicate spatial relationships, through there are also temporal adpositions, and adpositions that license additional arguments without spatial reference. In all cases, adpositions are preposed to the noun that they modify, and they are morphologically free particles.

Spatial Prepositions

There are two classes of spatial prepositions: those that function verbally and therefore take verbal morphology, and those that cannot take verbal morphology. The non-verbal adpositions are indicated in Table 1, while those that have verbal characteristics are shown in Table 2.

1. Non-verbal Prepositions

Gloss	Adposition			Source			Notes, Example Sentences
at/to	no			VW_054			eg. no oɓox ole [noɓox ole]"at the dog"
with	fo			VW_054			fo japil "with the knife", fo oteo "with the woman"
in/inside	kam			JM_021, VW_040
near/by/next to	pam	pam		JM_021, VW_040			pam ndaxarne "by the tree"
over/above/on/up	tok			JM_021, VW_040			used also as adv. "up"
under	ɗoxang	ɗoxang, ɗoxaŋ		JM_021			ɗoxang mbaj ne "under the blanket"
amidst/between/surrounded by/inside	ndeer			VW_024			ndeer taxarke "amidst the trees", alternates with andeer, plural
in front of	mbaambir			JM_021, VW_054
behind/after	acinj			JM_021, VW_040			acinj mbine "behind the house"
behind	kataa			VW_040
outside	tafil			VW_040			also N "outside"

2. Verbal Prepositions

Gloss	Adposition	Verbal Root	Meaning	Source			Notes, Example Sentences
around	widna, mbidna	twist around	wid	VW_040
toward	jofna	go toward	ɟof	VW_024
near (to)	matna	be near	mat	VW_024
far from	goƭna	be far	goƭ	VW_024
from	xatna	come from	xat	VW_068
from	inoorna	come from	inoor	VW_068
in front of	adox	be first	dox	VW_038 (JH_039)			derived from "leader" N
above	yooroox	be above	yooroox	VW_097
facing	faam						often appears with -ir
toward	jasnoor	go toward	jasnoor	VW_135

Structure of PPs

Spatial prepositions are indicated by particles that appear preposed to the noun phrase. Because noun phrases are head initial, i.e all nominal modifiers (determiners, adjectives, numerals) appear following the noun, the preposition always appears directly adjacent to the noun, as shown in <glr id="with.a.knife"/>-<glr id="under.tree"/>.

<gl id="with.a.knife" fontsize=12> fo japil \gll fo japil with knife \trans with the knife (026) </gl>

<gl id="at.the.drums" fontsize=12> na pamb ake \gll na pamb ake at drums DET \trans at the drums (086) </gl>

<gl id="under.tree" fontsize=12> ɗoxang ndaxar yaxgu ne \gll ɗoxang ndaxar yaxgu ne under tree red DET \trans under the red tree (110) </gl>

Prepositions treat pronouns in the same manner as full nouns, as shown in Examples <glr id="with.it"/> and <glr id="near.them"/>.

<gl id="with.it" fontsize=12> adega ndawal ne fo ten \gll a- deg -a ndawal ne fo ten 3S- cut -NPT meat DET with 3PRO \trans He cut the meat with it. (123) </gl>

<gl id="near.them" fontsize=12> ndiiƭ ne axe pam den \gll ndiiƭ ne a- xe pam den bird DET 3S- PROG near 3PRO.PL \trans The bird is near them. (123) </gl>

Embedding PPs

Prepositions can be used to to introduce PPs that modify core arguments as well as add arguments. Word order in Sereer is relatively strict; when a PP directly follows a subject, it must be interpreted as modifying that argument, as shown in Examples <glr id="elephant.farted"/> and <glr id="cat.house"/>. However, as shown in <glr id="fruit.on.table"/>, a PP that is clause-finally can be understood as modifying either the subject or object. PPs that modify the action of the verb, specifying its spatial position, appear post-verbally, as shown in <glr id="near.forest.1"/>. It is also possible to place PPs that modify verbs sentence-initially, as shown in <glr id="near.forest.2"/>. These are translated with a fronted PP in English, as well, and presumably are licensed by focus.

<gl id="elephant.farted" fontsize=12> fañiik fe kam foofi' le axaasa \gll fañiik fe kam foofi' le a- xaas -a elephant DET in water DET 3S- fart -NPT \trans The elephant in the water farted. (110) </gl>

<gl id="cat.house" fontsize=12> muus ne kam mbine a- ñaam -a ndiiƭ ne \gll muus ne kam mbine a- ñaam -a ndiiƭ ne cat DET inside house.DET 3S- eat -NPT bird DET \trans The cat in the house ate the bird. (123) </gl>

<gl id="fruit.on.table" fontsize=12> okoor oxe añaama ɓaak le tok atabla le \gll okoor oxe a- ñaam -a ɓaak le tok atabla le man DET 3S- eat -NPT baobab.fruit DET on table DET \trans The man eats the baobab fruit on the table (110) </gl>

<gl id="near.forest.1" fontsize=12> ɗaanam pam aqoƥ ale \gll ɗaan -a -um pam aqoƥ ale sleep -NPT -1S near forest DET \trans I sleep near the forest (110) </gl>

<gl id="near.forest.2" fontsize=12> pam aqoƥ ale ɗaanum \gll pam aqoƥ ale ɗaan -um near forest DET sleep -1S \trans Near the forest I slept. (110) </gl>

Co-occurrence Restrictions

Verbal and non-verbal prepositions can co-occur, as shown in <glr id="toward.under"/> and <glr id="toward.middle"/>. However, non-verbal prepositions can only co-occur if they are indicating two different locations, as shown in <glr id="in.infront"/>.

<gl id="toward.under" fontsize=12> ɗufam mbaamir ɗoxang mbine \gll ɗuf -a -m mbaamir ɗoxang mbind ne run -NPT -1S in.front.of under house DET \trans I ran toward under the house. (110) </gl>

<gl id="toward.middle" fontsize=12>

loolam jofaa ndeer suk ne

\gll lool -a -m jof -a -a ndeer suk ne cry -NPT -1S go.toward -NPT -?? amidst boat DET \trans I cry going to the middle of the boat. (135) </gl>

<gl id="in.infront" fontsize=12>

arefa kam wala mbaamir

\gll a- ref -a kam wala mbaamir 3s- be -NPT in or in.front.of \trans It can be in or in front. (135) </gl>

Reduplication

Reduplication is a productive process in Sereer, which can encode various semantic content. Some prepositions can be reduplicated, which indicates intensification. Bi-syllabic prepositions do not get reduplicated, such as tafil "outside" and doxang "underneath". Examples of reduplication are given in the section on Reduplication.

Reduplication

Gloss	Adposition	Root Form		Source			Notes, Example Sentences
tip-top	tok e tok	tok		VW_135
very inside	kam e kam	kam		VW_135
right next to	pam e pam	pam		VW_143
right in the middle	ndeender	ndeer		VW_024

Temporal Prepositions

Gloss	Adposition			Source			Notes, Example Sentences
before	bala			VW_054
during	ananga			VW_068
during	yete			VW_068
during/in	na			VW_068			same as n- above ?
until	bote			VW_068
until	bona			VW_068
until	booyaate			VW_068