Modification Strategies

This section outlines all the ways in which Sereer can syntactically and morphologically modify nouns, including -u adjectives, and relativizing na-adjectives. There is also a general discussion about 'true adjectives' (see section on Special Adjectives) as opposed to stative verb modification, and a section on notable coherent subclasses showing uniform morpho-syntactic patterns.

The following tables summarize several types of modifications, the details of which are explored in the subsections below, as well as in the section Determiners and Demonstratives.

Pronominal head or headless

	Relative -na	Adjectival -u
person	oxe faax na the one that is good	Ø opaxu (o)xe the good one
people	we mbax na the ones that are good	Ø mbaxu we the good ones
butterfly	oxe ranig na the one that is white	Ø orangu (o)xe the white one
butterflies	we ndanig na the ones that are white	Ø ndangu we the white ones

Headed with optionally expressed head

	Relative -na	Adjectival -u
person	(okiin) oxe faax na the (person) that is good	(okiin) ofaaxu (o)xe the good person
people	(wiin) we mbax na the (people) that are good	(wiin) faaxu we the good (people)
butterfly	(ofiiɗ) ole ranig na the (butterfly) that is white	(ofiiɗ) oran (o)le (ofiiɗ) orangu (o)le the white (butterfly)
butterflies	(xapiiɗ) axe ndanig na the (butterflies) that are white	(xapiiɗ) oran ole (xapiiɗ) orangu (o)le the white (butterflies)

The table will be reproduced in these sections where necessary for the discussion.

Special Adjectives

Modifying with Nouns

Noun Modification with -u

Noun Modification with na

Back to: Adjectives