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.
<gl id="cow1" fontsize = 12> naak es ƭik maak ke \gll naak es ƭik maak ke cows my two dig DET \trans my two big cows </gl>
<gl id="cow2" fontsize = 12> naak ƭik es maak ke \gll naak ƭik es maak ke cows two my big DET \trans my two big cows </gl>
<gl id="cow3" fontsize = 12> naak ƭik maak es ke \gll naak ƭik maak es ke cows two big my DET \trans my two big cows </gl>
Determiners
The determiner appears after the noun and any adjectives that modify it, without exception (see also Nominal Modifiers). Determiners cannot co-occur
<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 noun class:
fe "the" feek "this" fa "that (unseen)" faana "that (seen)" faaga "that (distant)"
There do not appear to be any syntactic restrictions on the use of one determiner over another. That is to say, wherever one of these determiners can appear, any of the other four can be substituted.
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 <glr id="cat1"/> the PP took ataabul ale modifies the noun muus, and in <glr id="cat2"/> this same noun is modified by the relative clause ga'uuma.
<gl id="cat1" fontsize=12> muus ne took ataabul ale \gll muus ne took ataabul ale cat DET on table DET \trans the cat on the table </gl>
<gl id="cat2" fontsize=12> muus ne ga'uuma \gll muus ne ga' -uum -a cat DET see REL.1s REL \trans the cat that I saw </gl>
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 <glr id="cat3"/> is ambiguous as to whether the relative clause modifies muus ne or ataabul ale, whereas in <glr id="cat4"/>, it unambiguously modifies muus ne.
<gl id="cat3" fontsize=12> muus ne took ataabul ale ga'uuma \gll muus ne took ataabul ale ga' -uum -a cat DET on table DET see REL.1s FV \trans the cat on the table that I saw </gl>
<gl id="cat4" fontsize=12> muus ne ga'uuma took ataabul ale \gll muus ne ga' -uum -a took ataabul ale cat DET REL.1s FV on table DET \trans the cat that I saw on the table </gl>
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.
<gl id="Yande1" fontsize=12> oɓay Yande \gll oɓay Yande hand Yande \trans Yande's hand </gl>
<gl id="Yande2" fontsize=12> oɓay omaak ole Yande \gll oɓay omaak ole Yande hand big DET Yande \trans Yande's big hand / the big hand of Yande </gl>
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.
<gl id="Yande3" fontsize=12> oɓay ole na Yande \gll oɓay ole n- a Yande hand DET of OBJ Yande \trans the hand of Yande </gl>
<gl id="Yande4" fontsize=12>
- oɓay na Yande
\gll *oɓay n- a Yande hand of OBJ Yande \trans hand of Yande </gl>
In neither of these possessive constructions is there any distinction between alienable and inalienable possession. In all of the above examples, "Yande's hand" could be either her own hand, or someone else's (e.g. if she were holding someone else's hand --it need not be severed).
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.). Though it is similar, this construction should not be confused with the possessive construction described above, as the modifier noun directly follows the modified noun, and not the entire NP. The first noun is clearly the head of the NP, as the determiner and any adjectives agree in noun class with this first noun.
<gl id="sugar" fontsize=12> oɓek suukar ole \gll oɓek suukar ole chunk sugar DET \trans the chunk of sugar </gl>
<gl id="millet" fontsize=12> mbep nqaaf maak \gll mbep nqaaf maak grain millet big \trans a big grain of millet </gl>
Coordination
Two nouns can be coordinated with fo, in which case they can be modified by a single adjective.
<gl id="coor1" fontsize=12> otew fokoor onogoyu \gll otew f- okoor onogoyu woman and man old \trans an old man and (old) women </gl>
Two NPs can also be coordinated with fo
<gl id="coor2" fontsize=12> goor we fo rew we \gll goor we fo rew we men DET and women DET \trans the men and the women </gl>
