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 1-3.

1)

'fo japil

fo	japil
with	knife

'with a knife' (026)

2)

na pamb ake

na	pamb	ake
at	drums	DET

'at the drums' (086)

3)

ɗoxang ndaxar yaxgu ne

ɗoxang	ndaxar	yaxgu	ne
under	tree	red	DET

'under the red tree' (110)

Prepositions treat pronouns in the same manner as full nouns, as shown in Examples 4 and 5.

4)

adega ndawal ne fo ten

a-	deg	-a	ndawal	ne	fo	ten
3S-	cut	-NPT	meat	DET	with	3PRO

'he cut the meat with it' (123)

5)

ndiiƭ ne axe pam den

ndiiƭ	ne	a-	xe	pam	den
bird	DET	3S-	PROG	near	3PRO.PL

'the bird is near them' (123)

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 6, and 7. However, as shown in 8, 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 9. It is also possible to place PPs that modify verbs sentence-initially, as shown in 10. These are translated with a fronted PP in English, as well, and presumably are licensed by focus.

6) PP modifying subject of intransitive verb

fañiik fe kam foofi' le axaasa

fañiik	fe	kam	foofi'	le	a-	xaas	-a
elephant	DET	in	water	DET	3S-	fart	-NPT

'the elephant in the water farted' (110)

7) PP modifying subject of transitive verb

muus ne kam mbine añaama ndiiƭ ne

muus	ne	kam	mbine	a-	ñaam	-a	ndiiƭ	ne
cat	DET	inside	house.DET	3S-	eat	-NPT	bird	DET

'the cat in the house ate the bird' (123)

8) PP modifying either the subject or object of transitive verb

okoor oxe añaama ɓaak le tok atabla le

okoor	oxe	a-	ñaam	-a	ɓaak	le	tok	atabla	le
man	DET	3S-	eat	-NPT	baobab.fruit	DET	on	table	DET

'the man eats the baobab fruit on the table' (110)

9) PP modifying the verb

ɗaanam pam aqoƥ ale

ɗaan	-a	-um	pam	aqoƥ	ale
sleep	-NPT	1S	near	forest	DET

'I sleep near the forest' (110)

10) Sentence-initial PP modifying the verb

pam aqoƥ ale ɗaanum

pam	aqoƥ	ale	ɗaan	-um
near	forest	DET	sleep	1S

'near the forest I slept' (110)

Co-occurrence Restrictions

Verbal and non-verbal prepositions can co-occur, as shown in 11 and 12. However, non-verbal prepositions can only co-occur if they are indicating two different locations, as shown in 13.

11)

ɗufam mbaamir ɗoxang mbine

ɗuf	-a	-um	mbaamir	ɗoxang	mbine
run	-NPT	-1S	in.front.of	under	house.DET

'I ran toward under the house' (110)

12)

loolam jofaa ndeer suk ne

lool	-a	-um	jof	-a	-a	ndeer	suk	ne
cry	-NPT	-1S	go.toward	-NPT	??	amidst	boat	DET

'I cry going to the middle of the boat' (135)

13)

arefa kam wala mbaamir

a-	ref	-a	kam	wala	mbaamir
3s-	be	-NPT	inside	or	in front

'It can be in or in front' (135)

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