Consonant Inventory
Sereer has a moderately large consonant inventory with 32 distinctive consonant phonemes. Strikingly, there are 21 phonemically distinctive oral stops. The consonant inventory makes use of some combinations of parameters that are unusual cross-linguistically, including contrastive voicing in both egressive and ingressive stops. Sereer also has multiple uvular phonemes, a rarity for sub-Saharan Africa. The consonant inventory is shown below. Working orthography for a given symbol is indicated in parentheses following a symbol if the orthography differs from the IPA.
Sereer Saalum Consonant Phonemes
|
|
|
Labial
|
Alveolar
|
Palatal
|
Velar
|
Uvular
|
Glottal
|
|
|
V'less
|
p
|
t
|
c
|
k
|
q
|
ʔ (')
|
|
|
Voi.
|
b
|
d
|
ɟ (j)
|
g
|
|
|
| Stops
|
Impl.
|
ɓ
|
ɗ
|
ʄ
|
|
|
|
|
|
V'less Impl.
|
ƥ
|
ƭ
|
ƈ
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prenas.
|
ᵐb (mb)
|
ⁿd (nd)
|
ᶮɟ (nj)
|
ᵑg (ng)
|
ᶰɢ (nq)
|
|
| Nasal
|
|
m
|
n
|
ɲ (ñ)
|
ŋ
|
|
|
| Fricative
|
|
f
|
s
|
|
|
χ (x)
|
|
| Tap/Trill
|
|
|
r
|
|
|
|
|
| Liquid
|
|
|
l
|
|
|
|
|
| Glide
|
|
w
|
|
j (y)
|
|
|
|
Stops
Sereer has a typologically rare large stop system, with 21 phonemic stops. This large stop system is a result of the fact that Sereer distinguishes five manners of articulation: plain voiceless, plain voiced, prenasalized voiced, voiceless implosive, and voiced implosive. All five of these manners are found for the labial, alveolar, and palatal places of articulation. There are no ingressive velar or uvular stops. There is no plain voiced uvular stop.
Fricatives
Sereer has three voiceless fricatives: /f s χ/. The uvular fricative varies in the amount of frication it occurs with, and can sometimes approach [h]. This is especially true in fast speech and before front vowels.
Vowel Inventory
Sereer has a 5 vowel system that is contrastive for length:
|
|
Front
|
Central
|
Back
|
| High
|
i ii
|
|
u uu
|
| Mid
|
e ee
|
|
o oo
|
| Low
|
|
a aa
|
|
|
Serer vowels can be followed by approximants /j w/ in the syllable coda, giving off the initial impression that the language has diphthongs. This may or may not prove to be the case, but there is only one word in the lexicon (which may be exceptional or misinterpreted by me) transcribed with both a glide and another segment in the coda, mbaiɟ "blanket", which suggests that glides are in the coda given the CVC syllable we see everywhere else. Faytak 23:19, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
Notes:
- Vowels after implosive consonants are sometimes creaky; this, however, is not contrastive.
- /o/ is realized as [ɔ] in closed syllables. See [ɳaflɔx] "feces" (013) vs. [la:lo] "baobab leaf" (millet text).
- /e/ has a lax variant [ɛ] that also surfaces in closed syllables. See [sa:te] "town, village" vs. [je:jɛt] "insect".
- Vowel tenseness generally covaries with vowel length.
Suprasegmentals
Serer makes use of stress. (?) It is unclear at this point whether it is automatically/metrically assigned to words or if it is lexically specified and unpredictable. Faytak 22:19, 20 September 2012 (UTC)
Plural marker χa- (supposing that it is a separate morpheme) seems to attract stress in some instances (e.g. aˈlas "tail", ˈχalas "tails"). Faytak 01:40, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
Loanword Phonology
Borrowed words show phonemes that are not normally present in Serer, like /y/ in [myyr] 'wall' (Fr. mur), or /ʃ/ in [maʃin] 'machine, device' (Fr. machine). These phonemes are irregularly adapted to Sereer phonology, as has happened on occasion to "wall," which can be pronounced as [miir].
Minimal Pairs
This list includes both near pairs and true minimal pairs.
CONSONANTS
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ˈtadikʰ |
- |
three
|
| ⁿdiitˈ |
- |
bird
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ŋɡol |
- |
finger
|
| oŋɡool |
- |
moon
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| famb |
- |
drum
|
| faaɓ |
- |
frog
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| fidɛl |
- |
fire
|
| ˈʔambɛ:l |
- |
lake
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ƥa̰:k |
- |
baobab tree
|
| ɓa:k |
- |
baobab fruit
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| oˈɟɛm |
- |
salt
|
| ˈɟimb |
- |
transplant
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ˈɟimb |
- |
transplant
|
| ˈcimb |
- |
seedling
|
| aˈkim |
- |
song
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| oˈqol |
- |
field
|
| oˈkol |
- |
glue (Fr.)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| aˈnaaq |
- |
branch
|
| aˈnaaχaha |
- |
senile, negligent
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| mbɪnd |
- |
house (sg)
|
| pɪnd |
- |
house (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| suk |
- |
boat
|
| sug |
- |
pound millet
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| suk |
- |
boat
|
| ɗuk |
- |
tackle
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| okor |
- |
man
|
| okol |
- |
glue (Fr.)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| fiɗel |
- |
fire (sg)
|
| piɗel |
- |
fire (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ndaχar |
- |
tree
|
| taχar |
- |
tree (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| mbaal |
- |
sheep (sg)
|
| paal |
- |
sheep (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| mbof |
- |
tied bundle (pl)
|
| pof |
- |
tied bundle (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ndeen |
- |
stove (sg)
|
| teen |
- |
stove (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ndiig |
- |
rainy season (sg)
|
| tiig |
- |
rainy season (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| nɟɔŋg |
- |
bed (sg)
|
| cɔŋg |
- |
bed (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| nduus |
- |
knife (sg)
|
| ruus |
- |
knife (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| gin |
- |
egg
|
| giɲ |
- |
(be) full
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| lug |
- |
gangrene (?)
|
| luɗ |
- |
borrow
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| atɛƥ |
- |
rain
|
| atɛɓ |
- |
small (class x)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| atɛɓ |
- |
small (class x)
|
| adɛɓ |
- |
small (class y)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| χal |
- |
make a mistake, misspeak
|
| kal |
- |
a mistake
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| (mɛhɛ) χɔ:χa |
- |
'I'm cultivating'
|
| (inwɛ) ɴɢɔ:χa |
- |
'We're cultivating'
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| fa:ɲik |
- |
elephant (sg)
|
| pa:ɲik |
- |
elephant (pl)
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ʄu:d |
- |
thunder
|
| ɗu:d |
- |
swallow
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ɗat |
- |
pick fruit
|
| ƭat |
- |
(be) right
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ɗat |
- |
pick fruit
|
| ɗap |
- |
wash laundry
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| dam |
- |
hold sth. for
|
| daɓ |
- |
bellybutton
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ɗaj |
- |
happiness
|
| ɓaj |
- |
blow
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| gar |
- |
come
|
| gaʔ |
- |
see
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| naf |
- |
hit
|
| nag |
- |
pick up
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| rɛf |
- |
be
|
| gɛf |
- |
crack, break
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| tok |
- |
on, on top of
|
| ɓok |
- |
(be) pigeon-toed
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| aʄɛwa |
- |
He gets water from a well
|
| aƈɛwa |
- |
They get water from a well
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| afo:la |
- |
He jumps
|
| ambo:la |
- |
They jump
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| abuga |
- |
He loves
|
| ambuga |
- |
They love
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| awa:ɗa |
- |
He looks for
|
| amba:ɗa |
- |
They look for
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ɟik |
- |
buy
|
| ɗik |
- |
two
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| aɟika |
- |
He buys
|
| aɲɟika |
- |
They buy
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ɓood |
- |
to crawl
|
| ƥood |
- |
snake (lit. 'crawler')
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| qɔχ |
- |
bulls
|
| ɴɢɔχ |
- |
a bull
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| laac |
- |
to ask for
|
| laƈ |
- |
a limp
|
| laʄ |
- |
to limp
|
VOWELS
| word |
|
gloss
|
| daɓ |
- |
belly button
|
| deɓ |
- |
rain
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| faɗ |
- |
to slap
|
| fiɓ |
- |
to sift
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| naf |
- |
to hit
|
| nof |
- |
ear
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| sak |
- |
to hold something
|
| suk |
- |
boat
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| gen |
- |
to live
|
| gin |
- |
egg
|
| gon |
- |
name
|
| gum |
- |
to have a mouth full of water
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| liƥ |
- |
fish
|
| luƥ |
- |
a borrowing
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| log |
- |
to have a mouth full of food
|
| lug |
- |
abscess
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| xas |
- |
to scold
|
| xaas |
- |
to fart
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| ten |
- |
he/she/it
|
| teen |
- |
breast
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| gin |
- |
egg
|
| giiñ |
- |
to swear an oath
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| liƥ |
- |
fish
|
| liiɓ |
- |
to measure
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| χooχ |
- |
to cultivate
|
| χoχ |
- |
head
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| luƥ |
- |
a borrowing
|
| aluuƥ |
- |
a flute
|
| word |
|
gloss
|
| poj |
- |
tomb
|
| paj |
- |
sarong
|
