Serer
From Free net encyclopedia
The Serer (also spelled Sérère, Sereer, etc.) are the second largest ethnic group in Senegal, a major group in The Gambia, and also present in Mauritania. Their traditional kingdoms include the Kingdom of Sine and Kindgom of Saloum. They are divided into several groups that speak mutually-unintelligible languages:
- Serer-Sine spoken in Sine-Saloum, Kaolack, Diourbel, Dakar and many other areas.
- Serer-Safen spoken inland from the Petite Côte, an area southeast of Dakar.
- Serer-Ndut spoken in the Mont-Roland, an area northwest of Thies.
- Serer-Noon spoken around Thies.
- Serer-Palor spoken in a small area between Rufisque and Thies.
- Serer-Lehar spoken in a small area north of Thies.
All the Serer languages except Serer-Sine (the largest) are classified among the Cangin languages. The Serer believe in a universal God called Roog and have an elaborate religious tradition dealing with various dimensions of life and death, space and time, and ancestral spirit communications. As a group, the Serer are resistant to foreign religious traditions and were slow to adopt Islam, though many are Catholic. The most famous Serer, Léopold Sédar Senghor, was Senegal's first president and a Catholic. As the second-largest group in Senegal, they have been somewhat overwhelmed by the energetic and dominant Wolof. Most Serer speak Wolof as a second language, and those who have grown up in the cities often speak it as a first language.
Historically, the Serer believe that they migrated to central Senegal from the North in the 10th to 13th centuries.
External links
- Serer-Sine page from Ethnologue site