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92-578: The Serer people ( Serer proper : Seereer or Sereer ) are a West African ethnoreligious group . They are the third-largest ethnic group in Senegal, making up 15% of the Senegalese population. They are also found in northern Gambia and southern Mauritania . The Serer people originated in the Senegal River valley, at the border of present-day Senegal and Mauritania, and moved south in

184-441: 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

276-481: A Serer kingdom, his body was dragged out of the country and left for the vultures to feast on if there is no family or friend to claim the body and bury it elsewhere. They were also never accompanied by grave goods . No matter how long a Mauritanian Moor has lived in the area as a migrant, he could never achieve high status within the Serer aristocracy. The best position he could ever wish for within Serer high society

368-535: A reversive and a repetitious case other than by observing the context of the sentence. The allomorphs -t and -it are used to make a verb reflexive , which means to make the object of the action the same as the subject. For example, ndaara ( meaning ‘look at’) becomes ndaar-t-o ( meaning ‘look at oneself’). The allomorphs -t, -ut and -it are used to show that a verb is completed with intensity. For example, yana (meaning ‘fall’) becomes yan-t-a (meaning ‘fall heavily’). For words such as ‘ yama (meaning ‘ask’),

460-497: A semi-nomadic pastoralist group who have a history of cattle-herding, justifying the bovine noun class. Pulaar today is primarily written in Latin alphabet, with orthographic conventions that are in common for all indigenous languages of Senegal . The Latin alphabet has been standardized in various Senegalese government decrees, the latest of which was issued in 2005. However, historically, similar to other indigenous languages of

552-514: A standard couscous . The Serer traditional attire is called Serr . It is normally woven by Serer men and believed to bring good luck among those who wear it. Marriages are usually arranged. In the event of the death of an elder, the sacred "Gamba" (a big calabash with a small hollow-out) is beaten followed by the usual funeral regalia to send them off to the next life. Senegalese wrestling called "Laamb" or Njom in Serer originated from

644-413: A title of honour. According to some, the history of this position goes back to an early Moor in Serer country who had a child by his own daughter. Serers and Toucouleurs are linked by a bond of "cousinage". This is a tradition common to many ethnic groups of West Africa known as Maasir (var : Massir ) in Serer language ( Joking relationship ) or kal , which comes from kalir (a deformation of

736-549: Is a declining language in West Africa, the surrounding Niger-Congo languages, such as Wolof , are increasing in speakers instead. A 1987–1988 study of bilingual North Senegalese communities found that the use of Pulaar was decreasing in the younger generation. Pulaar was being replaced by Wolof and French loan words. John Hames has argued that the reason for this decline in Pulaar in favour for Wolof and French has come down to

828-461: Is a favourite pastime for Senegalese and Gambians alike. "The Serer people are known especially for their rich knowledge of vocal and rhythmic practices that infuse their everyday language with complex overlapping cadences and their ritual with intense collaborative layerings of voice and rhythm." Ali Colleen Neff The Sabar (drum) tradition associated with the Wolof people originated from

920-401: Is a matter of conjecture. Although matrilineality ( tim in Serer ) is very important in Serer culture, the Serer follow a bilineal system. Both matrilineality and patrilineality are important in Serer custom. Inheritance depends on the nature of the asset being inherited. That is, whether the asset is a maternal ( ƭeen yaay ) or paternal ( kucarla ) asset. The hierarchical highest status among

1012-587: Is also a recent phenomenon among some Serers. For the Serer, the soil (where their ancestors lay in rest) is very important to them and they guard it with jealousy. They have a legal framework governing every aspect of life, even land law , with strict guidelines. Apart from agriculture (and other forms of production or occupation such as animal husbandry, fishing especially among the Serer-Niominka , boat building, etc.), some occupations , especially trade, they viewed as vulgar, common and ignoble. Hence in

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1104-429: Is called Chere (or saay) in the Serer language (pounded coos). They control all the phases of this dish from production to preparation. Other ethnic groups (or Serers), tend to buy it from Serer women market traders or contract it out to them especially if they are holding major ceremonial events. Chere is very versatile and can be eaten with fermented milk or cream and sugar as a breakfast cereal or prepared just as

1196-471: Is called a ƭat Roog ('the way of the Divine'). It believes in a universal Supreme Deity called Roog (var : Rog ). The Cangin-language speakers refer to the supreme being as Koox . Serer religious beliefs encompasses ancient chants and poems; veneration and offerings to Serer gods, goddesses, and the pangool ( ancestral spirits and saints ); astronomy ; rites of passage ; medicine ; cosmology ; and

1288-404: Is just a sample of the power of the bur kevel who was also a member of the griot caste. The slave castes continue to be despised, they do not own land and work as tenant farmers, marriage across caste lines is forbidden and lying about one's caste prior to marriage has been a ground for divorce. The land has been owned by the upper social strata, with the better plots near the villages belonging to

1380-769: Is not to be confused with Pular , another variety of Fula spoken in Guinea (including the Fouta Djallon region). The Pulaar and Pular varieties of Fula are to some extent mutually intelligible. Pulaar is currently written in primarily in the Latin script . Historically, for centuries, Pulaar has a literary tradition based on the Arabic script , an orthographic tradition now known as " Ajami ". More recently, Adlam script for Pulaar has been gaining ground as well (see Fula alphabets ). The word Pulaar translates to 'the language of

1472-456: Is part of the national curriculum of Senegal. Historically the Serer people's unwillingness to trade directly during the colonial era was a double edged sword to the Serer language as well as the Cangin languages . That resulted in the Wolof language being the dominant language in the market place as well as the factories. However, the Serer language, among other local languages, is now part of

1564-503: 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

1656-457: Is that the Serer people have retained a matrilineal inheritance system. According to historian Martin A. Klein the caste systems among the Serer emerged as a consequence of the Mandinka people's Sine-Saloum guelowar conquest, and when the Serer people sought to adapt and participate in the new Senegambian state system. The previously held view that the Serer only follow a matrilineal structure

1748-551: Is the only language that they learned. John Hames claims that the prevalence of Wolof in Senegalese culture as well as the lack of government intervention to maintain Pulaar as a contemporary language has led to its decline. John Hames has argued that the regime of Mauritanian President Moktar Ould Daddah has helped decrease the prevalence of Pulaar. Hames states that the Moor supportive presidency of Daddah led to an increase of Arab education over education of native languages. One of

1840-461: 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

1932-779: The 1984 coup d'état of then President of Mauritania, Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla , by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya . In response to the coup d'état, the Manifesto of the Oppressed Black Mauritanian was published in 1986 which criticized the perceived power and influence of the Arab "minority" in Mauritania. After the publishing of this manifesto, crackdowns by the Government against Pulaar speaker and teachers increased. Political imprisonments against

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2024-456: 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

2116-533: The Futa Tooro region encompassing the middle of the Senegal River. The Toucouleur people are heavily influenced by Islam , being one of the first black African groups to embrace Islam in the 11th century. Therefore, the Pulaar language has influences from Islam. This influence has led to Arabic words being integrated into the Pulaar language. The vocabulary of the Pulaar language is also influenced by

2208-530: The Mandinka cleric Ma Ba Jaxoo. The inter-ethnic wars involving the Serer continued till 1887, when the French colonial forces conquered Senegal. Thereafter, the conversion of the Serer people accelerated. By the early 1910s, about 40% of the Serer people had adopted Islam, and by the 1990s about 85% of them were Muslims. Most of the newly converted Serer people have joined Sufi Muslim Brotherhoods, particularly

2300-496: The Mouride and Tijaniyyah Tariqas. The Serer practice trade, agriculture, fishing, boat building and animal husbandry. Traditionally the Serer people have been farmers and landowners. Although they practice animal husbandry , they are generally less known for that, as in the past, Serer nobles entrusted their herds to the pastoralist Fula, a practice that continues today. However, they are known for their mixed-farming. Trade

2392-635: The Mouride Muslim Sufi order holds its capital in Touba , which is a predominately Wolof-speaking zone. The Mouride population constitutes 3-5 million people in Senegal (the population of Senegal is around 16 million). Fiona McLaughlin argues that this economic and cultural hegemony that the Wolof have is at the expense of the Pulaar language. She states that people in Senegal will call themselves Wolof, despite not being ethnically Wolof , because it

2484-549: The Serer-Laalaa (sometimes known as "Laa", "La" or "Lâ" or just "Serer"). Each group speaks Serer or a Cangin language . "Serer" is the standard English spelling. "Seereer" or "Sereer" reflects the Serer pronunciation of the name and are spellings used mostly by Senegalese Serer historians or scholars. The meaning of the word "Serer" is uncertain. Issa Laye Thiaw views it as possibly pre-Islamic and suggests four possible derivations: Professor Cheikh Anta Diop , citing

2576-691: The Toucouleur people in the Senegal River valley area. Serer people resisted Islamization and later Wolofization from possibly the 11th century during the Almoravid movement. They migrated south where they intermixed with the Diola people . After the Ghana Empire was sacked as certain kingdoms gained their independence, Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar , leader of the Almoravids , launched a jihad into

2668-677: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Pulaar Pulaar (in Adlam : 𞤆𞤵𞤤𞤢𞥄𞤪 , in Ajami : ݒُلَارْ‎ ) is a Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley area traditionally known as Futa Tooro and further south and east. Pulaar speakers, known as Haalpulaar'en live in Senegal , Mauritania ,

2760-606: The Wolof kingdoms , such as Jolof , Waalo , Cayor and Baol. The Kingdom of Baol was originally an old Serer Kingdom ruled by the Serer paternal dynasties, such as Joof family , the Njie family, etc. and the Wagadou maternal dynasty prior to the Battle of Danki in 1549. The Faal (var: Fall) paternal dynasty of Cayor and Baol that ruled after 1549 following the Battle of Danki were originally Black Moors ( Naari Kajoor ). Prior to

2852-525: The history of the Serer people . In contemporary times, about 85% of the Serers are Muslim, while others are Christian. Some Serer still follow Serer spiritual beliefs. According to James Olson , professor of History specializing in Ethnic Group studies, the Serer people "violently resisted the expansion of Islam" by the Wolof people in the 19th century. They were a target of the 1861 jihad led by

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2944-425: The oral tradition through songs and music. Of these, all castes had a taboo in marrying a griot, and they could not be buried like others. Below the artisan castes in social status have been the slaves, who were either bought at slave markets, seized as captives, or born to a slave parent. The view that the jambur (or jambuur ) caste were among the lower echelons of society is a matter of debate. The jaraff , who

3036-451: The 11th and 12th century. They migrated again in the 15th and 16th centuries as their villages were invaded and they were subjected to religious pressures from Islamic forces. They have had a sedentary settled culture and have been known for their farming expertise and transhumant stock-raising. The Serer people have been historically noted as an ethnic group practicing elements of both matrilineality and patrilineality that long resisted

3128-414: 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

3220-630: The Faal dynasty of Cayor and Baol , these two kingdoms were ruled by the Serer people with the patrilineages "Joof" or Diouf , Faye and Njie, and the maternal lineage of Wagadou – members of the royal families from the Ghana Empire (proper "Wagadou Empire") who married into the Serer aristocracy. All the kings that ruled Serer Kingdoms had Serer surnames, with the exception of the Mboge and Faal paternal dynasties whose reigns are very recent. They did not provide many kings. The Serer traditional religion

3312-574: The Fulɓe' as the stem /pul/ is the singular form of Fulɓe and the suffix /-aar/ means language. The language is believed to have formed in Fuuta Tooro when the ancestors of the Toucouleur people began speaking the language of the Fulɓe. It is then believed that the term Haalpulaar'en (which means 'speakers of the language of Pulaar') was created to apply to non-Fulɓe speakers of Fulɓe, of which

3404-474: The Gambia , and western Mali . The two main speakers of Pulaar are the Toucouleur people and the Fulɓe (also known as Fulani or Peul). Pulaar is the second most spoken local language in Senegal, being a first language for around 22% of the population. This correlates with 23.7% of the country in which Pulaar is the population's ethnicity. Pulaar is one of the national languages of Senegal alongside 13 others. It

3496-720: The Gambian "Kombo". The Serer (also known as "Seex" or "Sine-Sine") occupy the Sine and Saloum areas (now part of modern-day independent Senegal). The Serer people include the Seex (Serer or Serer-Sine ), Serer-Noon (sometimes spelt "Serer-None", "Serer-Non" or just Noon ), Serer-Ndut (also spelt "N’doute"), Serer-Njeghene (sometimes spelt "Serer-Dyegueme" or "Serer-Gyegem" or "Serer-N'Diéghem"), Serer-Safene , Serer-Niominka , Serer-Palor (also known as "Falor", "Palar", "Siili", "Siili-Mantine", "Siili-Siili", "Waro" or just "Serer"), and

3588-457: The Pulaar people increased, notably Djigo Tafsirou, who was a Pulaar language activist, was arrested and possibly died in detention after 2 years of imprisonment. The Ministère de l'Éducation de Base et des Langues Nationales in 1986, (becoming the Ministère de l'Alphabétisation et des Langues Nationales in 2001) was established by the Senegal government as a means to boost the influence of

3680-573: The Sahara." Over generations these people, possibly Pulaar -speaking herders originally, migrated through Wolof areas and entered the Siin and Saluum river valleys. This lengthy period of Wolof-Serer contact has clouded the origins of shared "terminology, institutions, political structures, and practices." If one is to believe the economist and demographer Étienne Van de Walle who gave a slightly later date for their ethnogenesis, writing that "The formation of

3772-521: The Sereer ethnicity goes back to the thirteenth century, when a group came from the Senegal River valley in the north fleeing Islam, and near Niakhar met another group of Mandinka origin, called the Gelwar, who came from the southeast (Gravrand 1983). The actual Sereer ethnic group is a mixture of the two groups, and this may explain their complex bilinear kinship system". Their own oral traditions recite legends that relate their being part of, or related to

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3864-455: 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

3956-625: The Serer Kingdom of Sine and spread to the Kingdom of Saloum . The Wolof people who migrated to Serer Saloum picked it up from there and spread it to Wolof Kingdoms. Each motif has a purpose and is used for different occasions. Individual motifs represent the history and genealogy of a particular family and are used during weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals etc. The Njuup (progenitor of Mbalax ) and Tassu traditions (also Tassou ) ( progenitor of rap music ) both originated from

4048-472: The Serer Kingdom of Sine . It was a preparatory exercise for war among the warrior classes. That style of wrestling (a brutal and violent form) is totally different from the sport wrestling enjoyed by all Senegambian ethnic groups today, nevertheless, the ancient rituals are still visible in the sport version. Among the Serers, wrestling is classified into different techniques and each technique takes several years to master. Children start young trying to master

4140-529: The Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum were incorporated into independent Senegal, which had gained its independence from France in 1960. The Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum are two of the few pre-colonial African kingdoms whose royal dynasty survived up to the 20th century. Serer kingdoms included the Kingdom of Sine and the Kingdom of Saloum. In addition to these twin Serer kingdoms, the Serer ruled in

4232-544: The Serer did not maintain a slave culture, or at least not to the same extent as other ethnic groups in the region. The Serer people are also referred to as: The Serer people are primarily found in contemporary Senegal , particularly in the west-central part of the country, running from the southern edge of Dakar to the border of The Gambia . The Serer-Noon occupy the ancient area of Thiès in modern-day Senegal. The Serer-Ndut are found in southern Cayor and north west of ancient Thiès. The Serer-Njeghen occupy old Baol ;

4324-531: The Serer people has been those of hereditary nobles and their relatives, which meant blood links to the Mandinka conquerors. Below the nobles, came tyeddo , or the warriors and chiefs who had helped the Mandinka rulers and paid tribute. The third status, and the largest strata came to be the jambur , or free peasants who lacked the power of the nobles. Below the jambur were the artisan castes, who inherited their occupation. These castes included blacksmiths, weavers, jewelers, leatherworkers, carpenters, griots who kept

4416-603: The Serer people. The Tassu was used when chanting ancient religious verses. The people would sing then interweave it with a Tassu. The late Serer Diva Yandé Codou Sène who was the griot of the late and former president of Senegal ( Leopold Sedar Senghor ) was proficient in the "Tassu". She was the best Tassukat (one who Tassu) of her generation. Originally religious in nature, the griots of Senegambia regardless of ethnic group or religion picked it up from Serer religious practices and still use it in different occasions e.g. marriages, naming ceremonies or when they are just singing

4508-460: The Serer word kucarla meaning paternal lineage or paternal inheritance). This joking relationship enables one group to criticise another, but also obliges the other with mutual aid and respect. The Serers call this Maasir or Kalir . This is because the Serers and the Toucouleurs are related – according to Wiliam J. foltz "Tukulor are a mixture of Fulani and Serer" The Serers also maintain

4600-516: The Serer word "Kalir" a deformation of "kurcala" which means paternal lineage or inheritance and is used exactly in that context by many Senegambians. The word gamo derives from the old Serer word gamohu – an ancient divination ceremony. Most people who identify themselves as Serer speak the Serer language . This is spoken in Sine-Saloum , Kaolack , Diourbel , Dakar , and in Gambia , and

4692-732: The Serer-Palor occupy the west central, west southwest of Thiès and the Serer-Laalaa occupy west central, north of Thiès and the Tambacounda area. The Serer people are diverse. Although they lived throughout the Senegambia region, they are more numerous in places such as old Baol , Sine , Saloum and in The Gambia , which was a colony of the Kingdom of Saloum. There they occupy parts of old "Nuimi" and "Baddibu" as well as

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4784-466: The Serers who were the victims of Islamic jihads and enslavements did not participate much in slavery and when they do, it was merely in revenge. This view is supported by scholars such as François G. Richard who posits that: The Serer ethnic group is rather diverse, and as Martin A. Klein notes, the institution of slavery did not exist among the Serer-Noon and N'Dieghem. The Serer's favourite food

4876-496: The Sine-Salum, their present habitat." Other historians such as R. G. Schuh have refuted Diop's thesis. Professor Dennis Galvan writes that "The oral historical record, written accounts by early Arab and European explorers, and physical anthropological evidence suggest that the various Serer peoples migrated south from the Fuuta Tooro region (Senegal River valley) beginning around the eleventh century when Islam first came across

4968-463: The Toucouleur people are the largest demographic. The negative accomplished verb form ends in -aani . (This is slightly different from Maasina Fulfulde and Pular .) Pulaar contains 21 noun classes. These noun classes can commonly be observed by looking at the suffix of a noun. For example, a noun that is the result of a loan word will typically end in -o (however, human singular nouns such as debbo (meaning woman) also end in -o ). The class of

5060-407: The allomorph - it to become lat-it-o (meaning ‘kick back’). The allomorphs -t , -it or -ut   are added to a verb to make it reversive, meaning to do the opposite of the original verb. For example, taara (meaning ‘wind’) becomes taar-t-a (meaning ‘unwind’). The same allomorphs apply for the repetitive case, meaning the repeating of an action. There are no means of distinguishing between

5152-514: The basics before moving on to the more advance techniques like the "mbapatte" , which is one of the oldest techniques and totally different from modern wrestling. Yékini (real name: "Yakhya Diop"), who is a professional wrestler in Senegal is one of the top wrestlers proficient in the "mbapatte" technique. Lamba and sabar ( musical instruments ) are used as music accompaniments in wrestling matches as well as in circumcision dances and royal festivals. Serer wrestling crosses ethnic boundaries and

5244-503: 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

5336-409: The colonial era probably due to anti-Serer sentiments ) has now been discarded as there is nothing in the Serer oral tradition that speaks of a military conquest, but a union based on marriage. A marriage between the noble Guelowar maternal clan and the noble Serer patriclans . This view is supported by Senegalese historians and writers such as Alioune Sarr , Biram Ngom and Babacar Sédikh Diouf . With

5428-431: The colonial era, especially among the Serer nobles, they would hire others to do the trading on their behalf (e.g. Moors) acting as their middlemen. The Serer people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like many West African ethnic groups with castes . The mainstream view has been that the Mandinka (or Malinka) Guelowars of Kaabu conquered and subjugated the Serer people. That view (propelled during

5520-426: The conservative, family-oriented culture of Pulaar. There are Pulaar words which describe relationships between people. The phrase jokkere endam' (literally translated to "following maternal milk") is used to talk about the responsibilities that one has to maintain their relationship with their family. The word musidal is used to describe one's blood relationship to a family. Pulaar's noun classes also indicate

5612-637: The dividing line between dialects and different languages. 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

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5704-475: The exact same name except for 5 ( d͡ʒoj for Pulaar and d͡ʒowi for Pular). The Pulaar verb system contains multiple suffixes which can be added to verbs to change their cases. These suffixes include the - t suffixes, the -d suffixes, the -n suffixes, and the -r suffixes. When multiple suffixes are used in a single verb, they follow the 'TDNR' order. This means that - t suffixes go before -d suffixes which go before -n suffixes, and -r suffixes are

5796-569: The exception of Maysa Wali , this would explain why none of the kings of Sine and Saloum (two of the Serer precolonial kingdoms) bore Mandinka surnames, but Serer surname throughout the 600 years reign of the Guelwar maternal dynasty. The Serer noble patriclans simply married Guelowar women, and their offsprings bearing Serer surnames reigned in Sine and Saloum. The Guelowars also viewed themselves as Serer and assimilated in Serer culture. The alliance

5888-452: The expansion of Islam. They fought against jihads in the 19th century, and subsequently opposed the French colonial rule. In the 20th century, most of the Serer converted to Islam ( Sufism ), but some are Christians or follow their traditional religion . The Serer society, like other ethnic groups in Senegal, has had social stratification featuring endogamous castes and slaves. Other historians, such as Thiaw, Richard and others, believe that

5980-482: The fact that the Wolof culture and Senegalese identity are strongly related. In Western Africa, Wolof language is often used in "major pop cultural and entertainment products and radio broadcast content". Wolof interpreters were used from the late sixteenth century with the Portuguese , therefore Wolof maintained a position in West Africa as the language of trade. Wolof also hold religious importance in West Africa as

6072-457: The influence of the agricultural lifestyle of Fula people. For example, the nge class of nouns refers to bovines including cow ( naage ) and heifer ( wiige ), and the ki class of nouns refer to trees or objects that are straight upright. The noun classes relating to themes of agriculture and farming relate to the Toucouleur economy, which consists mainly of raising of stock, crop cultivation and fishing. The Fulɓe people are known for being

6164-443: The intensive form becomes yam-t-a (meaning ‘interrogate’) which is also the same form the repetitive case (meaning ‘ask again’). Therefore, yam-t-a is either one of those cases and therefore cannot be distinguished without taking into account the context of the sentence it is used in. The Toucouleur people (also referred to as Tukulor) are one of the largest Pulaar speaking demographics in West Africa. They are an ethnic group of

6256-425: The king to the battlefield and recount the glory or bravery of his ancestors in battle. They retain and pass down the genealogy and family history of the king. The bur Kevel could make or break a king, and destroy the entire royal dynasty if they so wish. The abdication of Fakha Boya Fall from the throne of Saloum was led and driven by his own bur kevel. After being forced to abdicate, he was chased out of Saloum. During

6348-408: The last in order . There are few exceptions to this rule. An example of this is the word nyaam-n-id-ii. In this word, the -n suffix goes before the -d suffix. the -t suffix is added to verbs in order to change the case of the verb. The allomorphs -t or -it are added to make a verb retaliative, meaning to do in retaliation for a previous action. For example, lata (meaning ‘kick’) adds

6440-421: The letter noon (ن) appears in pairs with dal (د), jeem (ج), and geh (گ). Prenasalized consonants cannot take 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 (◌ّ). Some consider these digraphs as their own independent letters. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The Pulaar language

6532-530: The local languages of Senegal (including Pulaar). It did this by increasing the literacy amongst its users. Non-government companies that have aided the influence of the Pulaar language include the cotton producing company in West Africa, SODEFITEX. SODEFITEX has implemented local languages in their training courses for local farmers. A way this has been achieved is by creating radio programs in local languages to reinforce Pulaar to local employees. International development agencies have increasingly decided to focus on

6624-476: The more notable examples of this is when the Mauritanian government officially passed a law in 1965 that made it mandatory to teach Arabic during primary and secondary education. The Association pour la Renaissance du Pulaar- Republique Islamique de Mauritanie ( ARP-RIM) was established to teach Pulaar literacy in Mauritania. The organization received increased government funding after the coup d'état of

6716-457: The national curriculum of Senegal. About 200,000 Serer speak various Cangin languages , such as Ndut and Saafi , which are not closely related to Serer proper ( Serer-Sine language ). There are clear lexical similarities among the Cangin languages. However, they are more closely related to other languages than to Serer, and vice versa. For comparison in the table below, 85% is approximately

6808-403: The nobles. The social status of the slave has been inherited by birth. Serer religion and culture forbids slavery. "To enslave another human being is regarded as an enslavement of their soul thereby preventing the very soul of the slave owner or trader from entering Jaaniiw – the sacred place where good souls go after their physical body has departed the world of the living. In accordance with

6900-416: The noun will often refer to the actual content of the noun. For example, the ɗam noun class is applied to nouns that describe a liquid. The table below shows some of the noun classes in Pulaar and what the class indicates the content of the noun to be: The Pulaar counting system is base five (a quinary-decimal system) which is similar to the surrounding Niger-Congo languages. The number 7, for example, uses

6992-405: The praises of their patrons. Most Senegalese and Gambian artists use it in their songs even the younger generation like " Baay Bia ". The Senegalese music legend Youssou N'Dour , uses "Tassu" in many of his songs. In the pre-colonial era, Moors from Mauritania who came to settle in the Serer kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Sine , etc., were ill-treated by their Serer masters. If a Moor dies in

7084-405: The prefix of d͡ʒoj (5) and the suffix ɗiɗi (2) becoming d͡ʒeeɗiɗi (5+2). Other languages that use this system in West Africa include Pular, Wolof , Sereer-Sine and East Limba. These quinary-decimal counting languages can be found in the west African regions of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Gambia. Pulaar and Pular possess almost identical words for numbers, in which every number from 1 to 10 share

7176-418: The region, such as 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 Pulaar 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

7268-491: The region. According to Serer oral history, a Serer bowman named Amar Godomat shot and killed Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar with an arrow. They also violently resisted the 19th-century jihads and Marabout movement to convert Senegambia to Islam. The last kings of Sine and Saloum were Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof (also spelled: Mahecor Diouf) and Maad Saloum Fode N'Gouye Joof (also spelled: Fodé N’Gouye Diouf or Fode Ngui Joof), respectively. They both died in 1969. After their deaths,

7360-469: The reign of Sanou Mon Faye – king of Sine, one of the key notables who plotted to dethrone the king was the king's own bur kevel. After influencing the king's own estranged nephew Prince Semou Mak Joof to take up arms against his uncle, the Prince who despised his uncle took up arms with the support of the bur kevel and other notables. The Prince was victorious and was crowned Maad a Sinig (King of Sine). That

7452-484: The same bond with the Jola people with whom they have an ancient relationship. In the Serer ethnic group, this same bond exists between the Serer patronym, for example between Joof and Faye . Many Senegambian people also refer to this joking relations as "kal" (used between first cousins for example between the children of a paternal aunt and a maternal uncle) and "gamo" (used between tribes ). "Kal" derives from

7544-461: The teachings of Seereer religion, bad souls will not enter Jaaniiw. Their departed souls will not be guided by the ancestors to this sacred abode, but will be rejected thereby making them lost and wandering souls. In order to be reincarnated (( ciiɗ , in Seereer) or sanctified as a Pangool in order to intercede with the Divine [ Roog ], a person's soul must first enter this sacred place." As such,

7636-528: The then President of Mauritania, Moktar Ould Daddah in the late 1970s. The programs which the ARP-RIM participated in included campaigns to increase Pulaar literacy, this was done by creating more radio programs which taught the local languages of Mauritania. As The ARP-RIM also focused on applying the Pulaar language to primary education as it allocated Pulaar teachers to public schools in Mauritania. The efforts to revive Pulaar in Mauritania were reduced after

7728-401: The work of 19th-century French archeologist and Egyptologist, Paul Pierret, states that the word Serer means "he who traces the temple." Diop continued: "That would be consistent with their present religious position: they are one of the rare Senegalese populations who still reject Islam. Their route is marked by the upright stones found at about the same latitude from Ethiopia all the way to

7820-475: 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,

7912-483: Was admitted as an official language of Senegal by Presidential decree in 1971. There are around 28 known dialects of Pulaar, most of which are mutually intelligible with each other. The Pulaar dialects, as well as other West African languages , are usually referenced under the umbrella term ‘Fula’. Pulaar as a language, however, is not usually referenced as ‘Fula’. According to Ethnologue there are several dialectal varieties, but all are mutually intelligible. Pulaar

8004-590: Was an alliance based on marriage. In other regions where Serer people are found, state JD Fage, Richard Gray and Roland Oliver, the Wolof and Toucouleur peoples introduced the caste system among the Serer people. The social stratification historically evidenced among the Serer people has been, except for one difference, very similar to those found among Wolof, Fulbe, Toucouleur and Mandinka peoples found in Senegambia . They all have had strata of free nobles and peasants, artisan castes, and slaves. The difference

8096-489: Was responsible for advising the king was also made up of jamburs as well as the bur kuvel/guewel (the chief griot of the king) who was extremely powerful and influential, and very rich in land and other assets. The buur kevel who also came from the griot caste were so powerful that they could influence a king's decision as to whether he goes to war or not. They told the king what to eat, and teach them how to eat, how to walk, to talk and to behave in society. They always accompany

8188-705: 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

8280-487: Was the most important person after the king ( Maad a Sinig or Maad Saloum ) came from the jambur caste. The Jaraff was the equivalent of a prime minister. He was responsible for organising the coronation ceremony and for crowning the Serer kings. Where a king dies without nominating an heir ( buumi ), the Jaraff would step in and reign as regent until a suitable candidate can be found from the royal line. The noble council that

8372-412: Was to be part of a multi-national standardization effort. Prenasalized consonants are written as 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

8464-625: Was to work as a Bissit (Bissik). Apart from spying for the Serer Kings, the Bissit's main job was to be a clown – for the sole entertainment of the Serer King, the Serer aristocracy and the common people. He was expected to dance in ceremonies before the king and liven up the king's mood and the king's subjects. This position was always given to the Moors. It was a humiliating job and not

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