Serer , often broken into differing regional dialects such as Serer-Sine and Serer saloum , is a language of the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo family spoken by 1.2 million people in Senegal and 30,000 in the Gambia as of 2009. It is the principal language of the Serer people , and was the language of the early modern kingdoms of Sine , Saloum , and Baol .
19-445: The Diourbel Region ( Serer and Cangin : Jurbel ) is a region of Senegal with 2,080,811 inhabitants (2023). The regional capital is the city of Diourbel , and the largest city is Touba . The region corresponds roughly to the precolonial Kingdom of Bawol and is still called by that name. Bawol (or Baol ) is an ancient kingdom formerly ruled by the Joof family , one of the members of
38-486: A Latin orthography for Hausa was adopted and the Ajami script declined in popularity. Some anti-colonial groups and movements continued to use Ajami. An Islamic revival in the 19th century led to a wave of Ajami written works. Ajami remains in widespread use among Islamic circles but exists in digraphia among the broader populace. Ajami is used ceremonially and for specific purposes, such as for local herbal preparations in
57-441: A digraph (combination of two consonants). While historically, there were single letter alternatives, these letters are no longer used. Prenasalized consonants are constructed using meem (م) or noon (ن) in combination with other consonants. The letter meem (م) appears in pairs with beh (ب), whereas the letter noon (ن) appears in pairs with dal (د), jeem (ج), qaf (ق), and geh (گ). Prenasalized consonants cannot take
76-606: Is composed of three départements: Serer language Serer is one of the Senegambian languages , which are characterized by consonant mutation . The traditional classification of Atlantic languages is that of Sapir (1971), which found that Serer was closest to Fulani . However, a widely cited misreading of the data by Wilson (1989) inadvertently exchanged Serer for Wolof . Dialects of Serer are Serer Sine (the prestige dialect ), Segum, Fadyut-Palmerin, Dyegueme (Gyegem), and Niominka . They are mutually intelligible except for
95-544: Is primarily written in Latin alphabet . The Latin alphabet has been standardized in various government decrees, the latest of which was issued in 2005. However, historically, similar to Wolof language , its first writing system was the adaption of the Arabic Script. The Arabic script is used today as well, albeit in a smaller scale, and only mostly limited to Islamic school teachers and students. The Arabic -based script of Serer
114-457: Is very important in Sereer. For example, this exchange is only for when the household in question is not nearby. Certain grammatical changes would occur if the greetings were exchanged in a home that the greeter has just entered: In Senegalese Sereer culture like many cultures in that region, greetings are very important. Sometimes, people will spend several minutes greeting each other. Article 1 of
133-552: The Arabic script , and like other Ajami scripts , is an abjad . This means that only consonants are represented with letters. Vowels are shown with diacritics . As a matter of fact, writing of diacritics, including zero-vowel (sukun) diacritic as per the orthographic are mandatory. Arabic has 3 vowels, and thus 3 vowel diacritics. But in Serer, there are 5 vowels, and as all vowels are shown with diacritics in Serer. This means that on top of
152-667: The Jula language . There is no standard system of using Ajami, and different writers may use letters with different values. Short vowels are written regularly with the help of vowel marks (which are seldom used in Arabic texts other than the Quran). Many medieval Hausa manuscripts, similar to the Timbuktu Manuscripts written in the Ajami script, have been discovered recently. and some of them describe constellations and calendars . An example of
171-638: The Serer ethnic group found in Senegambia . Inhabitants of the area are called Bawol-Bawol which takes its name from the Serer mode of pluralisation , other examples being : Sine-Sine or Siin-Siin (inhabitants of Sine ), Saloum-Saloum (inhabitants of Saloum ), etc. The population is primarily comprised by the Serer people especially those from the Cangin group , the Safene in particular. The Serers are believed to be
190-479: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Ajami script Ajami ( Arabic : عجمي , ʿajamī ) or Ajamiyya ( Arabic : عجمية , ʿajamiyyah ), which comes from the Arabic root for 'foreign' or 'stranger', is an Arabic-derived script used for writing African languages , particularly Songhai , Mandé , Hausa and Swahili , although many other languages are also written using
209-432: The most sacred sites in Serer religion . The Département of Mbacke also includes Murid Islamic Sufi order's holy city of Touba . The installation of this order in Serer country is a controversial one, especially among those Serers who adhere to the tenets of Serer religion (see Serer history (medieval era to present) . However, some Serers are also Muslims and have headed this religious order. The Diourbel Region
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#1732869689782228-462: The 3 original diacritics, 2 additional ones have been created. Vowels in Wolof are also distinguished by length, short and long. Short vowels are only shown with a diacritic. Similar to Arabic, long vowels are indicated by writing alif (ا), waw (و), or yeh (ي). But unlike Arabic, this does not mean that the vowel diacritic can be dropped. It cannot, as there 5 vowels and not 3. When vowels appear at
247-455: The Sereer spoken in some of the areas surrounding the city of Thiès . Not all Serer people speak Serer. About 200,000 speak Cangin languages . Because the speakers are ethnically Serer, they are commonly thought to be Serer dialects. However, they are not closely related, and Serer is significantly closer to Fulani (also called Pulbe, Pulaar, or Fulbe) than it is to Cangin. The voiceless implosives are highly unusual sounds. Serer today
266-503: The beginning of the word, an alif (ا) is used as the carrier of the vowel. If a long vowel is at the beginning of the word, an alif , an alif (ا) is used as the carrier of the vowel, followed by either waw (و) or yeh (ي) as appropriate. The exception is when a word starts with the long vowel "Aa". Instead of two alif s (اا) being used, an alif-maddah (آ) is used. The following greetings and responses are spoken in most regions of Senegal that have Serer speakers. Spatial awareness
285-471: The original inhabitants of this area. The Wolof and other ethnic groups are also present. The Diourbel Region is rich in history and it is where the Cekeen Tumulus are located. Scholars such as Charles Becker, Henry Gravrand , and Victor Martin suggest that these monuments were built by the Serer people and form part of the Serer tumulus of Baol (see also Senegambian stone circles ). They are some of
304-461: The script were likely old Taseelhit or medieval Amazigh , Kanuri , or Songhay . Later, Fulfulde, Hausa, Wolof, and Yoruba would use the script. By the 17th century, the script was being used to publish religious texts and poetry. Guinean Fulani poetry was written in Ajami from the middle of the 18th century. During the pre-colonial period, Qur'anic schools taught Muslim children Arabic and, by extension, Ajami. After Western colonization,
323-574: The script, including Mooré , Pulaar , Wolof , and Yoruba . It is an adaptation of the Arabic script to write sounds not found in Standard Arabic . Rather than adding new letters, modifications usually consist of additional dots or lines added to pre-existing letters. The script was first used between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was likely originally created with the intent of promoting Islam in West Africa . The first languages written in
342-475: The zero-vowel diacritic sukun (◌ْ). If they are at the end of the word and have no vowels, they will take the gemination diacritic shadda (◌ّ). In prenasalized consonants, the first letter of the digraph, namely either meem (م) or noon (ن), is written with no diacritic. This is what distinguishes them from consonant sequences. Some Serer-speaking authors treat these digraphs as their own independent letters. Serer Ajami script, like its parent system,
361-699: Was set by the government as well, between 1985 and 1990, although never adopted by a decree, as the effort by the Senegalese ministry of education was to be part of a multi-national standardization effort. The script is referred to as "Serer Ajami script " (In Serer: ajami seereer , اَجَمِ سࣹيرࣹيرْ ). There are 29 letters in Serer Ajami script. The list does not include consonants that are used exclusively in Arabic loanwords and do not occur in Serer words, nor does it include digraphs used for showing prenasalized consonants. Prenasalized consonants are written as
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