Noun Phrases

Noun phrases (NPs) in Sereer consist of a noun optionally modified by any or all of the following components: any number of adjectives, a single determiner, a prepositional phrase, a relative clause, and a possessive NP. These components are ordered as follows:

1) Noun
2) Adjectives (in any order)
3) Determiner
4) PP and/or Relative clause (in either order)
5) Possessive NP

Agreement

Adjectives and determiners agree in noun class with the noun that they modify. Agreement is indicated on adjectives by initial consonant alternations, as well as prefixes. The following NPs show the adjective xoƈu 'thin' and the determiner agreeing with various nouns:

Sg. Noun	Adjective	Det.		Pl. Noun	Adjective	Det.
otew	oqoƈu	oxe		rew	xoƈu	we		‘woman’
ofiɗ	oxoƈu	ole		xapiɗ	xaqoƈu	axe		‘butterfly’
ojaf	oxoƈu	ole		acaf	aqoƈu	ake		‘leg’
xomb	xoƈu	le		aqomb	aqoƈu	ake		‘turtle’
xaarit	fanqoƈu	fe		qaarit	qoƈu	ke		‘friend’
nqoox	nqoƈu	ne		qoox	qoƈu	ke		‘bull’
ambeel	aqoƈu	ale		peel	qoƈu	ke		‘lake’
akoong	aqoƈu	ale		akoong	aqoƈu	ake		‘gorilla’
ondew	onqoƈu	onge		fondew	fonqoƈu	ne		‘woman (dim.)’
(g)andew	anqoƈu	ale		(g)andew	anqoƈu	ake		‘woman (aug.)’

Numerals function syntactically like other adjectives, but have somewhat more complicated agreement patterns

Noun-Adjective Order

Adjectives must follow the noun that they modify. <glr id="big.cat"/>.

<gl id="big.cat" fontsize=12> muus maak \gll muus maak cat big \trans a big cat </gl>

Multiple adjectives can modify a noun, and there are no restrictions on the ordering of these adjectives as shown in <glr id="cat.big.many"/> and <glr id="cat.many.big"/>.

<gl id="cat.big.many" fontsize=12> muus maak mayu \gll muus maak mayu cat big many \trans many big cats </gl>

<gl id="cat.many.big" fontsize=12> muus mayu maak \gll muus maak mayu cat many big \trans many big cats </gl>

Numerals are no exception, as shown in the interchangeability between <glr id="birds.two.red"/> and <glr id="birds.red.two"/>.

<gl id="birds.two.red" fontsize=12> tiiƭ ƭik yaxgu \gll tiiƭ ƭik yaxgu birds two red \trans two red birds </gl>

<gl id="birds.red.two" fontsize=12> tiiƭ yaxgu ƭik \gll tiiƭ yaxgu ƭik birds red two \trans two red birds </gl>

Possessive adjectives also function syntactically like any other adjective (though they are inflectionally invariant, and can appear in any order within a series of adjectives, with no apparent change in meaning.

(examples)

Determiners

Determiners always follow the noun that they modify, as shown in <glr id="the.tree"/>.

<gl id="the.tree" fontsize=12> ndaxar ne \gll ndaxar ne tree DET \trans the tree </gl>

Additionally, determiners may appear at the end of a complex noun phrase, as shown in <glr id="fast.horse"/>. The interaction between noun classes, determiners, and nominal modification are discussed in Nominal Modifiers.

<gl id="fast.horse" fontsize=12> pis ñofu ne \gll pis ñofu ne horse fast DET \trans the fast horse </gl>