Inflectional Verbal Morphology
Subject Marking
Sereer verbs agree in person and number with their subject. The following person/number agreement morphemes are used by the language, depending on morphological factors discussed below:
Basic subject marking: Gloss Sereer Gloss Sereer 1SG -(u)m 1PL i= 2SG -o/Ø 2PL nu= 3SG a= 3PL a=
The set of "strong" subject markers is used in contexts such as subordinate clauses, relative clauses, and switch-referent situations.
"Strong" subject marking: Gloss Sereer Gloss Sereer 1SG in/=n, (u)m 1PL i= 2SG o= 2PL nu= 3SG te= 3PL de=
In addition to these suffixes and clitics, number agreement is indicated by initial consonant mutation, with unmutated verb forms agreeing with singular subjects, and nasal grade verb forms agreeing with plural subjects.
Negation
Negation is expressed by verbal suffixes of the form -ee(r), -i(r), -ii. These allomorphs are not strictly phonologically conditioned. The negative suffix appears closer to the root than subject or object marking suffixes. The negative marker co-occurring with the singular subject agreement morphemes are given below. The third person agreement proclitic a= does not appear with negative verbs, unless the verb is also inflected for extraction or conditionality (see below). In all cases, the plural forms of negative-marked verbs differ from the third person singular only in the agreement proclitic (for 1st and 2nd pl.), and initial consonant mutation.
Negative marking: Gloss Sereer 1SG -ii-m 2SG -ir-o 3SG -ee(r)
Finiteness
Verb forms are either finite or non-finite. A verb form is finite if it contains one of four morphemes: the "default vowel" -a, the extraction marker -u, the passive suffix -e, or the negative suffix -eer (or any of their allomorphs). The "default vowel" (glossed DV) appears in a variety of finite verb forms, and caries no consistent semantic information other than finiteness. It has an allomorph -aa when immediately preceding the suffixes -(u)m "1s subject", -(i)n "3s object", and (o)ng "2s object" (see below).
Non-finite forms
There are two types of non-finite verb forms; infinitives and progressive participles. The infinitive is the bare verb stem. The progressive participle is formed by affixing the suffix -aa (glossed PROG) to the stem, though when co-occuring with certain other suffixes, the allomorph -a appears. Though object, passive, tense, and aspect suffixes can appear on the both types of non-finite verbs, subject agreement suffixes cannot, nor can they inflect for negation. Subject agreement proclitics (both basic and strong) can occur on non-finite forms, for example in subordinate clauses. Non-finite forms always exhibit initial consonant mutation to agree with their subject, if one exists. Non-finite verb forms can serve as the subject or object of clauses. They are often preceded by the non-finite particle o (glossed INF), though not obligatorily.
<gl fontsize=11> a mbar-a (o) maafir \gll a mbar-a o maaf-ir 3 must.pl-DV INF fall-RECIP \trans They had to wrestle </gl>
<gl fontsize=11> bugaam o jawaa maalo \gll bug-aa-m o jaw-aa maalo want-DV-1s INF cook-PROG rice \trans I want to be cooking rice OR I like cooking rice </gl>
Imperative
Imperative forms exist for second person adressees only. The singular imperative is formed with the suffix -i, and the plural imperative with the suffixes -y-o. Note that object markers intervened between the suffixes -y and -o (see below).
Imperative marking: Gloss Sereer 2SG -i 2PL -y-o
The forms discussed so far are given below for the verb fal "kick."
kick Positive sg. pl. Negative sg. pl. 1 falaam i mbala 1 faliim i mbalee(r) 2 fala nu mbala 2 faliro nu mbalee(r) 3 a fala a mbala 3 falee(r) mbalee(r) Infinitive fal mbal Prog. Part. falaa mbalaa Imperative fali mbalyo
Object Marking
Incorporated object pronouns ("object markers") exist as affixes for singular objects. These affixes directly precede the subject suffixes, if any are present, though combinations of object markers and other suffixes are often highly idiosyncratic. Of especial note is the element -ax which appears in various combinations of 1st and/or 2nd singular participants. The first person singular object marker is -(a)am.
kick me Positive sg. pl. Negative sg. pl. 1 — — 1 — — 2 falaxamo nu mbalaxam 2 faliraamo nu mbaliraam 3 a falaxam a mbalaxam 3 faliraam mbaliraam Infinitive falaam mbalaam Prog. Part. falaxam mbalaxam Imperative falaam mbalyaamo
The second person singular object marker is -(o)ng.
kick you Positive sg. pl. Negative sg. pl. 1 falaxong i mbalaang 1 falirong i mbalirang 2 — — 2 — — 3 a falaang a mbalaang 3 falirang mbalirang Infinitive falong mbalong Prog. Part. falang mbalang Imperative — —
The third person singular object marker is -(i)n. Note the allomorphs of the imperative suffixes that occur when alongside this object marker.
kick him Positive sg. pl. Negative sg. pl. 1 falaanum i mbalaan 1 falinum i mbaliran 2 falaano nu mbalaan 2 falino nu mbaliran 3 a falaan a mbalaan 3 faliran mbaliran Infinitive falin mbalin Prog. Part. falan mbalan Imperative faleen (mbalyeeno)
Free Object Pronouns
Free pronouns exist in addition to the incorporated object pronouns (object markers) discussed above.
Free object pronouns: Gloss Sereer Gloss Sereer 1SG mi' 1PL 'in(o) 2SG wo' 2PL nuun 3SG ten 3PL den(o)
These free pronouns can be used in either object or subject position. When used as a subject, they do not take the place of the subject agreement clitic or suffix, as these are truly agreement markers. When used as an object, these free pronouns do take the place of the object markers, as the object markers are truly incorporated pronouns. Use of a free pronoun is the only way to express a plural pronominal object. For singular objects, the free pronouns can optionally be used instead of the object markers, and are necessary when expressing multiple third person singular objects.
Reflexives
Reflexivity is indicated by use of the noun xoox (sg.) qoox (pl.) "head/self," along with the appropriate possessor (possessive adjective for a singular participant, free pronoun in genitive position for a plural participant).
Reflexive pronouns: Gloss Sereer Gloss Sereer 1SG xoox um 1PL qoox 'in 2SG xoox of 2PL qoox nuun 3SG xoox um 3PL qoox den
These reflexive pronouns are generally preceded by the differential object marking preposition a, unless for some reason the participant is inanimate.
Position of object pronouns
In complex clauses, especially those involving the verb bug "want," the object pronoun, whether incorporated (object marker), or free, can appear on (after) either the higher or lower verb. The former configuration (on/after the higher verb) is generally preferred, despite the fact that the object is truly that of the lower verb.
<gl fontsize=11> bugaam o warong \gll bug-aa-m o war-ong want-DV-1s INF kill-2s.obj \trans I want to kill you. </gl>
<gl fontsize=11> bugaaxong o war \gll bug-a-ax-ong o war want-DV-AX-2s.obj INF kill \trans I want to kill you. </gl>
<gl fontsize=11> buga (o) foon a 'in \gll bug-a o foon a 'in want-2s ING kiss OBJ 1p \trans You want to kiss us. </gl>
<gl fontsize=11> buga (a) 'in o foon \gll bug-a (a) 'in o foon want-2s obj 1pl INF kiss \trans You want to kiss us. </gl>
Focus extraction marking
In cases of focus extraction, different forms of the verb appear. These are marked by the suffix -u, which has a zero allomorph when preceding a vowel-initial suffix. This suffix -u takes the place of the default vowel -a. In addition to subject marking, these extraction forms of the verb can include negative marking and object marking. In cases of subject extraction, the verb shows no agreement affixes (though it does exhibit the proper mutation for number agreement). The rows marked with "S" in the paradigms below indicate these subject-extraction forms. When some other element is extracted, the verb does exhibit subject agreement. Note that non-finite forms cannot take extraction morphology.
kick (w/ extraction) sg. pl. Positive 1 falum i mbalu 2 falo nu mbalu 3 a falu a mbalu S falu mbalu Negative 1 faleerum i mbaleeru 2 faleero nu mbaleeru 3 a faleeru a mbaleeru S faleeru mbaleeru
kick me (w/ extraction) sg. pl. Positive 1 — — 2 3 S Negative 1 — — 2 3 S
kick you (w/ extraction) sg. pl. Positive 1 2 — — 3 S falong Negative 1 2 — — 3 S
kick him (w/ extraction) sg. pl. Positive 1 2 3 a falun a mbalun S falun mbalun Negative 1 2 3 S
Passive
The passive forms of the verb are formed with the suffix -(e)e. The passive infinitive if marked by the suffix -el, and the passive progressive participle by -eel. Object markers cannot appear on passive forms of the verb. Any object that is present must be expressed as a free pronoun or NP. Negative forms of passive verbs take the suffix -aand, which co-occurs with the passive suffix only in first and second singular forms.
kick Positive sg. pl. Negative sg. pl. 1 faleem i mbale 1 falaandeem i mbalaand 2 falee nu mbale 2 falaandee nu mbalaand 3 a fale a mbale 3 falaand mbalaand Infinitive falel mbalel Prog. Part. faleel mbaleel Imperative ? ?
Relative marking
Relative Clauses include relativized forms of the verb, marked with the suffix -(ii)(n)a. This suffix combines with subject and object markers very idiosyncratically. These relative forms appear in two principle contexts: relative clauses, and following y- words (e.g. ye, ya, yaaga) "when/while." In a subject-headed relative clause (e.g. 'the man that kicked'), no subject agreement is present. These forms are given in the tables below in the rows marked "S".
that (__) kick(s) sg. pl. Positive 1 faluuma i mbalna 2 faloona nu mbalna 3 te falna de mbalna S falna mbalna Negative 1 faleeruuma i mbaleerna 2 faleeroona nu mbaleerna 3 te faleerna de mbaleerna S faleerna mbaleerna
Relative verb forms including object markers are given below:
that/when (__) kick(s) me sg. pl. Positive 1 — — 2 falaxoona nu mbalaxama 3 te falaxama de mbalaxama S falaxama mbalaxama Negative 1 — — 2 (faleeraxoona) (nu mbaleeraxama) 3 (te faleeraxama) (de mbaleeraxama) S faleeraxama mbaleeraxama
that/when (__) kick(s) you sg. pl. Positive 1 in faloonga i mbaloonga 2 — — 3 te faloonga de mbaloonga S faloonga mbaloonga Negative 1 (in faleeroonga) i mbaleeroonga 2 — — 3 (te faleeroonga) (de mbaleeroonga) S faleeroonga mbaleeroonga
that/when (__) kick(s) him sg. pl. Positive 1 falanuuma i mbaluuna 2 falanoona nu mbaluuna 3 te faluuna de mbaluuna S faluuna mbaluuna Negative 1 (faleeranuuma) (i mbaleeruuna) 2 (faleeranoona) (nu mbaleeruuna) 3 (te faleeruuna) (de mbaleeruuna) S faleeruuna mbaleeruuna
Passive verb forms can also be relativized.
that/when (__) am/are/is kicked sg. pl. Positive 1 2 3 te faleena de mbaleena S faleena mbaleena Negative 1 2 3 te falaandeena de mbalaandeena S falaandeena falaandeena
The allomorph -iina of the relative suffix appears when co-occuring with the tense/aspect suffixes -' (past), -k (future), and -eeg (past imperfect) (see below).
Conditional marking
The suffix -ang is used to express conditionality (o falanga "if you kick"). Note the absence of any overt subject marking for the first singular in this form. This pattern of subject marking is shared by verb forms occurring with the auxiliaries fat, xan, and bar (see below). These verb forms cannot appear in isolation, and require the presence of some other clause to indicate what happens if the condition is met.
if __ kick(s) sg. pl. Positive 1 falanga i mbalanga 2 o falanga nu mbalanga 3 a falanga a mbalanga Negative 1 falangee i mbalangee 2 o falangee nu mbalangee 3 a falangee a mbalangee
Conditional forms can appear with object marking:
(fill in when we have it)
Tense and aspect
Tense
Matrix verbs are obligatorily marked for either tense or aspect in Sereer, and are often marked for both. The three tense markers are suffixes:
| Gloss | Sereer | |
|---|---|---|
| Simple past | -'a | |
| Proximal | -aa | |
| Progressive past | -eega |
The proximal tense marks events that happened temporally close to the speech act, which includes the present or recent past. Events outside of the recent past-present time frame cannot be marked with -aa.
The future aspect when marked with xan, however, can take -aa marking to indicate future progressive. xan can also appear by itself without any suffix aspect marking, and is glossed as the simple future. Note: Another pre-verbal morph, kan, behaves similarly to xan with regards to subject marking and position relative to the verb, but whose semantic applications are quite different. So far, the best gloss of kan is as a marker of predicate focus.
The proclitic progressive aspect marker xe/we must co-occur with either proximal tense or progressive past tense. With proximal tense -aa, xe/we is glossed as present progressive, and is past progressive with -eega. xe/we has special person marking; see the section on subject marking above.
Proximal Tense
Sample proximal tense verbal paradigm:
| Gloss | Sereer | Gloss | Sereer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg- 'I run' | ʄuufaam | 1pl- 'we run' | iƈuufaa |
| 2sg- 'you run' | ʄuufaa' | 2pl- 'you all run' | nuƈuufaa |
| 3sg- 'he runs' | aʄuufaa | 3pl- 'they run' | aƈuufaa |
Past Tense
Sample past tense verbal paradigm:
| Gloss | Sereer | Gloss | Sereer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg- 'I ran' | ʄuuf'aam | 1pl- 'we ran' | iƈuuf'aa |
| 2sg- 'you ran' | ʄuuf'aa' | 2pl- 'you all ran' | nuƈuuf'aa |
| 3sg 'he ran' | ʄuuf'aa | 3pl- 'they ran' | aƈuuf'aa |
Past Progressive Tense
Sample past progressive tense paradigm:
| Gloss | Sereer | Gloss | Sereer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg- 'I was running' | ʄuufeegam | 1pl- 'we were running' | iƈuufeega |
| 2sg- 'you were running' | ʄuufeega' | 2pl- 'you all were running' | nuƈuufeega |
| 3sg 'he was running' | ʄuufeegaa | 3pl- 'they were running' | aƈuufeega |
Aspect
Two auxiliary verbs, xe/we 'progressive', and xan 'future', mark aspect in Sereer. The auxiliary xe/we takes special subject marking (see the section on Subject marking), and can occur with the proximal or past progressive tense. The auxiliary xan takes a different type of exceptional person marking, and can occur without a tense suffix or with the proximal tense suffix (for a future progressive reading).
Future aspect
Sample future aspect paradigm:
| Gloss | Sereer | Gloss | Sereer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg- 'I will see him' | xam ga' in | 1pl- 'we will see him' | xani ng'a' in |
| 2sg- 'you will see him' | xano ga' in | 2pl- 'you all will see him' | xan nu nga' in |
| 3sg 'he will see her' | xana ga' in | 3pl- 'they will see him' | xan a nga' in |
Progressive aspect
Sample progressive aspect paradigm:
| Gloss | Sereer | Gloss | Sereer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg- 'I am running' | mexe ʄuufaa | 1pl- 'we were running' | inwe ƈuufaa |
| 2sg- 'you are running' | wexe ʄuufaa | 2pl- 'you all were running' | nunwe ƈuufaa |
| 3sg 'he is running' | axe ʄuufaa | 3pl- 'they were running' | awe ƈuufaa |
TAM Combinations
The suffixal tenses and pre-verbal auxiliary aspects can be combined in the following ways:
| Pre-verbal | Root | Post-verbal | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ | -aa | proximal | |
| _ | -'a | past | |
| _ | -eega | progressive past | |
| xe/we | _ | -aa | present progressive |
| xe/we | _ | -eega | progressive past |
| xan | _ | future | |
| xan | _ | -aa | future progressive |
Examples of TAM combinations
The following are examples of each attested TAM combination in Sereer thus far:
Present progressive: <gl fontsize=11> mexe laca \gll me-xe lac-aa 1s-PRG ask-PROX \trans I’m asking (065) </gl>
Proximal:
<gl fontsize=11>
ŋasaam
\gll ŋas-aa-m
play-PROX-1S
\trans I play (096)
</gl>
Future progressive:
<gl fontsize=11>
\gll xan nafaa aJegaan
xan naf-aa a-Jegaan
FUT hit-PROX OBJ-Jegan
\trans I will be hitting Jegan repeatedly (108)
</gl>
Future: <gl fontsize=11> \gll xan naf aJegaan xan naf a-Jegaan FUT hit OBJ-Jegan \trans I will hit Jegan (once) (108) </gl>
Past: <gl fontsize=11> \gll sob 'am sob ’a-m be.clumsy PST-1s \trans I was clumsy (068) </gl>
Progressive past (1):
<gl fontsize=11>
\gll feceegam
fec-eega-m
dance-PRG.PST-1s
\trans I used to dance (133)
</gl>
Progressive past (2):
<gl fontsize=11>
\gll mexe fooleega
me-xe fool-eega
1s-prg. jump-pst.prg
\trans I was jumping (repeatedly) (108)
</gl>
ka-
Sereer allows a proclitic ka- to appear with tense and aspect morphology. The exact semantics of ka- are yet to be determined. Ka- often occurs with the progressive aspect -aa. However, it is not inherently linked to the progressive semantics like as the auxiliary "xe/we" is when combined with the proximal "-aa" suffix. Similarly, though, ka- also takes special subject marking (See section on Subject Marking).
Progressive KA- reading: <gl fontsize=11> \gll kam labaa ka-m lab-aa KA-1S drown-PROX \trans I'm drowning (166) </gl>
Non-progressive KA- reading: <gl fontsize=11> \gll kam lab ka-m lab KA-1S drown \trans I (already) drowned (166) </gl>
However, this progressive/non-progressive reading distinction only occurs with atelic verbs. The exact function of ka- is yet to be determined. This morpheme could also have focus/extraction function (See note in Focus section)
