Extraction or Focus

Sereer frequently extracts or fronts nominal arguments and marks the verb of the affected clause with a suffix -u. This page is dedicated to describing the syntactic patterns and permissible structures that 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.)

U-Extraction in Wh-questions

See also the page on Questions.

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 wh-extraction of the subject is marked: qaarit ke a laaɓiira (laaɓiir) 'the friends are generous' but qaarit qum laaɓiiru (*laaɓiir)?, 'which friends are generous?' (115)

U-Focus

kaa

The "preverb" kaa may mark verbal focus on the verb immediately following. More research is needed on this point.