Extraction or Focus

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One frequent change in normal Sereer word order is the fronting of a constituent that signals focus on the fronted constituent. Examples are below, and will be elaborated upon eventually. Note that a suffix -u co-occurs with this fronting in nearly all cases; this could be analyzed as an extraction marker. (Exponence of non-past tense in the second example is not clear.)

a buga [o gar].
a= bug -a o= gar
3SG want NPT 2SG come

He wants you to come. (151)

[o gar] a bugu.
o= gar a= bug -u
2SG come 3SG want EXTR.ARG

He wants you to come. (151)

Reduplication of predicates cannot occur when subject extraction is marked: qaarit ke a laaɓiira laaɓiir 'the friends are generous' but qaarit qum laaɓiiru, *qaarit qum laaɓiiru laaɓir 'which friends are generous?'