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
The determiner appears after the noun and any adjectives that modify it, without exception.
<gl id="the.tree" fontsize=12> ndaxar ne \gll ndaxar ne tree DET \trans the tree </gl>
<gl id="fast.horse" fontsize=12> pis ñofu ne \gll pis ñofu ne horse fast DET \trans the fast horse </gl>
There are five determiners, each of which are inflected for noun class. They are given below in the f-k noun class:
fe "the" feek "this" fa "that (unseen)" faana "that (seen)" faaga "that (distant)"
PPs and Relative Clauses
Nouns can also be modified by prepositional phrases and relative clauses. Both of these modifiers must follow the determiner (and thus also the noun and adjectives). In (ex) the PP () modifies the noun (), and in (ex) this same noun is modified by the relative clause ().
(ex)
(ex)
A PP and a relative clause can co-occur within an NP, and can be freely ordered with respect to each other. However, it must be noted that (ex) is ambiguous as to whether the relative clause modifies muus ne or ataabul ale, whereas in (ex), it unambiguously modifies muus ne.
(ex)
(ex)
Possession
Possession is indicated by postposing the possessor noun to the possessed NP. The possessor noun (phrase) must follow the possessed NP, and cannot be freely reordered with any preceding component of the possessed NP. The presence of a postposed possessor does not inflict any restrictions on the possessed NP; it may consist of simply a noun, or may contain adjectives, a determiner, or any other possible modifier.
() oɓay Yande
() oɓay omaak ole Yande
Possession may also be indicated using the preposition no (coalesced to na when preceding the personal object particle a). In this construction, the possessed NP must contain a determiner.
() oɓay ole na Yande
() X oɓay na Yande
Noun modifiers
Certain nouns can directly modify a preceding noun. Constructions of this type involve a quantified noun immediately followed by a quantifier noun (e.g. "piece," etc.). This construction should not be confused with the possessive construction described above, as in the modifier noun directly follows the modified noun, and not the entire NP.
(ex)
(ex)
Coordination
Two nouns can be coordinated with fo, in which case they can be modified by a single adjective.
() otew fokoor onogoyu
Two NPs can also be coordinated with fo
() goor we fo rew we
