 Serer cultural vigil in Senegal. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Over 3 million (as of 2023)[1][2][3][4] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Senegal | 2,941,545 (2023 estimates)[1] |
 Gambia | 88,316 (2023)[2][5] |
 Mauritania | 5,000 (unupdated old estimate)[4] |
| Languages | |
| Serer,Cangin languages,Wolof, French (Senegal and Mauritania), Arabic (Mauritania), English (Gambia) | |
| Religion | |
| Senegal 2002: 90%Islam[dubious –discuss], 8%Christianity[6] and 2%Serer religion (a ƭat Roog) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Wolof people,Jola people,Toucouleur people andLebou people | |
TheSerer people (Serer proper:Seereer orSereer) are aWest Africanethnoreligious group[7][8] andnation,[9][10][11] "today scattered in several small states on the coast or pushed back into the woods of the interior, must be one of the oldest inSenegambia."[9]They are the third-largest ethnic group in Senegal, making up 16% of the Senegalese population.[12] They also reside in northernGambia and southernMauritania.[13][4][14]
The Serer people originated in theSenegal River Valley, at the border of present-day Senegal and Mauritania, and moved south in the 11th and 12th century. They migrated again in the 15th and 16th centuries as their villages were invaded andthey were subjected to religious persecution by Islamic forces.[15][16][17] They have had a sedentary settled culture and have been known for their farming expertise andtranshumant stock-raising.[16][18]
The Serer people have been historically noted as an ethnic group practicing elements of bothmatrilineality andpatrilineality that long, violently resisted the expansion of Islam since the 11th century.[19][20][21][22][23] They fought against jihads in the 19th century, and subsequently opposed French colonial rule - resulting in Serer victory at the famousBattle of Djilass (13 May 1859), and the French Empire taking revenge against them at the equally famousBattle of Logandème that same year.[24][25][26][27][28]
In the 20th century, most of the Serer converted to Islam (Sufism[29]), but some are Christians or followtheir traditional religion.[24] Despite resisting Islamization and jihads for almost a millennium -having been persecuted for centuries, most of the Serers who converted to Islam converted as recently as the 1990s,[24] in part, trying to escape discrimination and disenfranchisement by the majority Muslim group surrounding them, who still view the Serers as "the object of scorn and prejudice."[30][31]
The Serer society, like other ethnic groups in Senegal, has had social stratification featuring endogamouscastes and slaves.[32][33][34] Other historians, such as Thiaw, Richard and others, believe that the Serer did not maintain a slave culture, or at least not to the same extent as other ethnic groups in theSenegambia region.Serer religion and culture also forbids slavery.[35][36][37]
The Serer people are also referred to as:
The Serer people are primarily found in contemporarySenegal, particularly in the west-central part of the country, running from the southern edge ofDakar to the border ofThe Gambia. The Serer include the various Serer peoples of which theSeex people (pronouncedSeh) are the most numerous.
The Serer-Noon occupy the ancient area ofThiès in modern-day Senegal. The Serer-Ndut are found in southernCayor and north west of ancient Thiès. The Serer-Njeghen occupy oldBaol; the Serer-Palor occupy the west central, west southwest of Thiès and the Serer-Laalaa occupy west central, north of Thiès and theTambacounda area.[38][39]
The Serer people are diverse. Although they lived throughout the Senegambia region, they are more numerous in places such as oldBaol,Sine,Saloum and inThe Gambia, which was a colony of the Kingdom of Saloum. There they occupy parts of old Nuimi andBaddibu as well as the Gambian Kombo.[38]
The Seex (also called Sine-Sine, Serer, Seh, Seeh, orSerer-Sine) occupy theSine andSaloum areas, now part of modern-day independent Senegal. The Serer people include the Seex,Serer-Noon (or Serer-None, Serer-Non, or Noon),Serer-Ndut (or N’doute), Serer-Jegem/Serer-Njeghen (or Serer-Dyegueme, Serer-Gyegem, or Serer-N'Diéghem),Serer-Safene,Serer-Niominka,Serer-Palor (or Falor, Palar, Siili, Siili-Mantine, Siili-Siili, Waro, or Serer), and theSerer-Laalaa (or Laa, La, Lâ, or Serer). Each group speaksSerer or aCangin language. "Serer" is the standard spelling in English speaking Gambia. "Seereer" or "Sereer" reflects the Serer pronunciation of the name and are spellings used mostly bySenegalese Serer historians, linguists or scholars.[38][39] "Sérère" is the standard spelling in French speaking Senegal and Mauritania.
The meaning of the word "Serer" is uncertain. ProfessorIssa Laye Thiaw view it as ancient and sacred, and pre-Islamic, and thus rejects the following four modern definitions rooted in their historical rejection of Islam:[41]
ProfessorCheikh Anta Diop, citing the work of 19th-century French archeologist and Egyptologist, Paul Pierret, states that the wordSerer means "he who traces the temple."[25] 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 the Sine-Salum, their present habitat."[25]
R. G. Schuh have refuted Diop's thesises in general.[42] ProfessorMolefi Kete Asanteet al. agrees pretty much with Professor Diop, and posits that, "they are an ancient people whose history reaches deep into the past..." and that would be consistent with their "strong connection to their ancient religious past".[43]
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 the Sahara."[15]: p.51 Over generations these people, possiblyPulaar-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."[15]: p.52
If one is to believe the economist and demographer Étienne Van de Walle[44] who gave a slightly later date for their ethnogenesis, writing that "The formation of 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 ofMandinka 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".[45]
Their own oral traditions recite legends that relate their being "part of, or closely related to, the same group as the ancestors of today's Tukulor" (Toucouleur people) in the Senegal River valley area.[17] Serer people resistedIslamization (and laterWolofization) from as early as the 11th century during theAlmoravid movement. By around 1030 - 1035, during the reign of the Muslim leader,War Jabi, the Serers refused War Jabi's forced conversion and Sharia law, resulting in Serer ultimate defeat, and eventually, the initialSerer exodus from Tekrur. They migrated south where they intermixed with theDiola people (whom they have an ancient relationship with[46]).[17][26]
After theGhana Empire was sacked as certain kingdoms gained their independence,Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar, leader of theAlmoravids, launched ajihad into the region. According to Serer oral history, a Serer bowman namedAmar Godomat shot and killed Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar with an arrow.[47][48][49][50] They also violently resisted the 19th-century jihads andMarabout movement to convertSenegambia to Islam.[24][51]
The last kings ofSine andSaloum wereMaad 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, 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.[52]
In 2017 and 2019, the Serers of Saloum and Sine (respectively) decided to reinstate their monarchies from the sameGuelowar matrilineage that had ruled for over six-hundred years, and one of the manySerer maternal clans.Maad Saloum Thierno Coumba Daga Ndao was crowned King of Saloum on 21 May 2017 atKahone (the precolonial capital of Saloum).[53] His maternal nephew,Maad a SinigNiokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf, fromthe Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof was crowned King of Sine on 8 February 2019 atDiakhao (the precolonial of Sine). He is the son ofLingeer Fatou Diène, and a paternal descendants ofMaad Semou Njekeh Joof - via Maad Saloum Semou Mak Joof (the 19th century King of Sine). Niokhobaye Diouf and Thierno Ndao rule asconstitutional monarchs, since Sine and Saloum are no longer kingdoms, but now part of modern-day independent Senegal. They have no powers compared to their ancestors. Their roles are simply ceremonial and diplomatic. Niokhobaye Diouf is however, very influential in theSenegambia region, and has been able to utilise the Serer andJola bond of cousinage to bring about peace inCasamance, which has been the plague of consecutiveSenegalese andGambian presidents - following decades long of theCasamance conflict. He is also proactive in bringing about economic and cultural development.[54][55][56][57][58]
.jpg) | |
| Royal titles | |
| Lamane (alsoreligious) | |
| Maad | |
| Maad a Sinig | |
| Maad Saloum | |
| Teigne | |
| Lingeer | |
| Line of succession | |
| Buumi | |
| Thilas | |
| Loul Religious titles | |
| Saltigue | |
Serer kingdoms included the Kingdom of Sine and the Kingdom of Saloum. In addition to these twin Serer kingdoms, the Serer ruled in theWolof kingdoms, such asJolof,Waalo (through theJoos Maternal Dynasty),Cayor and Baol. TheKingdom of Baol was originally an old Serer Kingdom ruled by the Serer paternal dynasties, such as theJoof family, theNjie family, etc. and theWagadou maternal dynasty prior to the Battle of Danki in 1549.[59][60]
The Faal (var: Fall) paternal dynasty ofCayor (who ruled using the titleDamel) and Baol that ruled after 1549 following the Battle of Danki were originally Black Moors patrilineally (Naari Kajoor)[61][62] or Serer according to ProfessorCheikh Anta Diop, along with their adopted titleDamel.[63] Although the surname Faal is not typically regarded as a Serer surname, there are Serers surnamed Faal/Fall, and the maternal grandmother of Damel-TeigneAmari Ngoneh Sobel Faal,Lingeer Sobel Joof (mother of Ngoneh Sobel Njie, Amari's own mother) was a Serer, and a descendants ofMaad Ndaah Njemeh Joof, the medieval King of Laah, Baol. For more on that, see theJoof family. Prior to the Faal dynasty of Cayor andBaol, these two kingdoms were ruled by the Serer people with the patrilineages "Joof" orDiouf,Faye and Njie, and the maternal lineage of Wagadou – members of the royal families from theGhana Empire (proper "Wagadou Empire") who married into the Serer aristocracy.[59][60][64]
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.[65]
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| Serers andSerer religion |
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The Serer traditional religion is calleda ƭat Roog ('the way of the Divine'). It believes in a universal Supreme Deity calledRoog (var :Rog). The Cangin-language speakers refer to the supreme being asKoox. Serer religious beliefs encompasses ancient chants and poems; veneration and offerings to Serer gods, goddesses, and thepangool (ancestral spirits and saints);astronomy;rites of passage;medicine;cosmology; and thehistory of the Serer people.[66][67]
In contemporary times, about 85% of the Serers are Muslim,[24] while others are Christian.[6] Some Serer still followSerer spiritual beliefs.[68][69]
According toJames Olson, professor of History specializing in Ethnic Group studies, the Serer people "violently resisted the expansion of Islam" by theWolof people in the 19th century. They were a target of the 1861 jihad led by theMandinka cleric Ma Ba Jaxoo.[24] 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.[24] Most of the newly converted Serer people have joinedSufi Muslim Brotherhoods, particularly theMouride andTijaniyyah Tariqas.[29][70]
The Serer practice trade, agriculture, fishing, boat building and animal husbandry. Traditionally the Serer people have been farmers and landowners.[71] Although they practiceanimal husbandry, they are generally less known for that, as in the past, Serer nobles entrusted their herds to thepastoralist Fula, a practice that continues today.[72]
However, they are known for their mixed-farming.[73] Trade 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, evenland law, with strict guidelines. Apart fromagriculture (and other forms of production or occupation such as animal husbandry, fishing especially among theSerer-Niominka, boat building, etc.), someoccupations, especially trade, they viewed as vulgar, common and ignoble. Hence in 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.[74]
The Serer people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like many West African ethnic groups withcastes.[32][34]
The mainstream view has been that the Mandinka (or Malinka)Guelowars ofKaabu conquered and subjugated the Serer people.[75] That view (propelled during the colonial era probably due toanti-Serer sentiments[76]) 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 nobleSerer patriclans. This view is supported by Senegalese historians and writers such asAlioune Sarr, Biram Ngom andBabacar Sédikh Diouf. With the exception ofMaysa Wali, this would explain why none of the kings ofSine andSaloum (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 was an alliance based on marriage.[75][77]
In other regions where Serer people are found, state JD Fage, Richard Gray and Roland Oliver, theWolof andToucouleur peoples introduced the caste system among the Serer people.[78]
The social stratification historically evidenced among the Serer people has been, except for one difference, very similar to those found among Wolof, Fulbe, Toucouleur andMandinka peoples found inSenegambia. They all have had strata of free nobles and peasants, artisan castes, and slaves. The difference is that the Serer people have retained a matrilineal inheritance system.[79] According to historianMartin 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.[79]
The previously held view that the Serer only follow a matrilineal structure is a matter of conjecture. Although matrilineality (tiim inSerer) 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.[19][20][21][22][23]
The hierarchical highest status among the Serer people has been those of hereditary nobles and their relatives, which meant blood links to the Mandinka conquerors.[80][81] Below the nobles, cametyeddo, or the warriors and chiefs who had helped the Mandinka rulers and paid tribute. The third status, and the largest strata came to be thejambur, or free peasants who lacked the power of the nobles. Below thejambur were the artisan castes, who inherited their occupation. These castes included blacksmiths, weavers, jewelers, leatherworkers, carpenters, griots who kept theoral 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.[80]
The view that thejambur (orjambuur) caste were among the lower echelons of society is a matter of debate. Thejaraff, who was the most important person after the king (Maad a Sinig orMaad 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 was responsible for advising the king was also made up of jamburs as well as thepaar no maad (orbuur/bur kuvel/guewel) - the chief griot of the king, who was extremely powerful and influential, and very rich in land and other assets. Thepaar no maad 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 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 paar no maad could make or break a king, and destroy the entire royal dynasty if they so wish. The abdication ofMaad Saloum Fakha Boya Fall from the throne of Saloum was led and driven by his own paar no maad (or bur kevel). After being forced to abdicate, he was chased out of Saloum. During the reign ofMaad a Sinig Sanmoon Faye – king of Sine, one of the key notables who plotted to dethrone the king was the king's own paar no maad. 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 paar no maad and other notables. The Prince was victorious and was crownedMaad a Sinig (King of Sine). That is just a sample of the power of the paar no maad who was also a member of the griot caste.[82][83]
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.[citation needed][84] The land has been owned by the upper social strata, with the better plots near the villages belonging to the nobles.[81][85] The social status of the slave has been inherited by birth.[86]
Serer religion and culture forbids slavery.[35][36] "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 enteringJaaniiw – the sacred place where good souls go after their physical body has departed the world of the living. In accordance with 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 aPangool in order to intercede with the Divine [Roog ], a person's soul must first enter this sacred place." As such, 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.[36][35] 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 theSerer-Noon and N'Dieghem.[87]
The Serer's favourite food is calledchere or saay, pounded coos in theSerer language. 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 withfermented milk or cream and sugar as a breakfastcereal or prepared just as a standardcouscous. The Serer traditionalattire is calledSerr. It is normallywoven 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 bigcalabash with a small hollow-out) is beaten followed by the usual funeral regalia to send them off to the next life.[88]
Senegalese wrestling called"Laamb" orNjom inSerer originated from the SererKingdom of Sine.[89] 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 allSenegambian 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 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 andsabar (musical instruments) are used asmusic accompaniments in wrestling matches as well as incircumcision dances and royal festivals.[90] Serer wrestling crosses ethnic boundaries and is a favourite pastime forSenegalese andGambians 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."
TheSabar (drum) tradition associated with theWolof people originated from the SererKingdom of Sine and spread to theKingdom of Saloum. The Wolof people who migrated to Serer Saloum picked it up from there and spread it to Wolof Kingdoms.[92] Eachmotif has a purpose and is used for different occasions. Individual motifs represent thehistory andgenealogy of a particular family and are used during weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals etc.
TheNjuup (progenitor ofMbalax) andTassu traditions (alsoTassou) (progenitor ofrap music) both originated from the Serer people.[93][94][95] The Tassu was used when chanting ancient religious verses. The people would sing then interweave it with a Tassu. The late SererDivaYandé Codou Sène who was thegriot of the late and former president of Senegal (Leopold Sedar Senghor) was proficient in the "Tassu". She was the bestTassukat (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 the praises of their patrons. Most Senegalese and Gambian artists use it in their songs even the younger generation like "Baay Bia".[96] The Senegalese music legendYoussou N'Dour, uses "Tassu" in many of his songs.[91]
In the pre-colonial era,Moors fromMauritania who came to settle in the Serer kingdoms such as theKingdom of Sine, etc., were ill-treated by their Serer masters. If a Moor dies in a Serer kingdom, his body was dragged out of the country and left for thevultures to feast on if there is no family or friend to claim the body and bury it elsewhere. They were also never accompanied bygrave 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 was to work as aBissit (Bissik). Apart from spying for the Serer Kings, theBissit's main job was to be aclown – 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 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.[97]
Serers and Toucouleurs are linked by a bond of "cousinage". This is a tradition common to many ethnic groups ofWest Africa known asMaasir (var :Massir) inSerer language (Joking relationship) orkal, which comes fromkalir (a deformation of the Serer wordkucarla 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 thisMaasir orKalir. This is because the Serers and theToucouleurs are related – according to Wiliam J. foltz"Tukulor are a mixture of Fulani and Serer"[98] The Serers also maintain the same bond with theJola people with whom they have an ancient relationship based onthe legend of Jambooñ and Agaire.[46] In the Serer ethnic group, this same bond exists between the Serer patronym, for example betweenJoof andFaye families.[99]
ManySenegambian people also refer to this joking relations as"kal" (used betweenfirst cousins for example between the children of a paternal aunt and a maternal uncle) and"gamo" (used betweentribes). "Kal" derives from the Serer word "Kalir" a deformation of "kurcala" which means paternal lineage or inheritance and is used exactly in that context by many Senegambians.[100] The wordgamo derives from the old Serer wordgamohu[101] – an ancientdivination ceremony.[102][103]
Most people who identify themselves as Serer speak theSerer language. This is spoken inSine-Saloum,Kaolack,Diourbel,Dakar, and inGambia, and 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 theSerer language as well as theCangin languages. That resulted in theWolof language being the dominant language in the market place as well as the factories.[104] However, the Serer language, among other local languages, is now part of the nationalcurriculum of Senegal.
About 200,000 Serer speak variousCangin languages, such asNdut andSaafi, which are not closely related to Serer proper (Serer-Sine language). There are clearlexical similarities among the Cangin languages. However, they are more closely related to other languages than to Serer, and vice versa.[105] For comparison in the table below, 85% is approximately the dividing line between dialects and different languages.
| Cangin languages and Serer proper | % Similarity with Serer-Sine | % Similarity with Noon | % Similarity with Saafi | % Similarity with Ndut | % Similarity with Palor | % Similarity with Lehar (Laalaa) | Areas they are predominantly found | Estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehar language (Laalaa) | 22 | 84 | 74 | 68 | 68 | N/A | West central, north ofThies, Pambal area, Mbaraglov, Dougnan;Tambacounda area. Also found in the Gambia | 12,000 (Senegal figures only) (2007) |
| Ndut language | 22 | 68 | 68 | N/A | 84 | 68 | West central, northwest of Thiès | 38,600 (Senegal figures only (2007) |
| Noon language | 22 | N/A | 74 | 68 | 68 | 84 | Thiès area. | 32,900 (Senegal figures only (2007) |
| Palor language | 22 | 68 | 74 | 84 | N/A | 68 | West central, west southwest of Thiès | 10,700 (Senegal figures only (2007) |
| Saafi language | 22 | 74 | N/A | 68 | 74 | 74 | Triangle southwest of and near Thiès (between Diamniadio, Popenguine, and Thiès) | 114,000 (Senegal figures only (2007) |
| Serer-Sine language (not a Cangin language) | N/A | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | West central;Sine andSaloum River valleys. Also inthe Gambia and small number inMauritania | 1,154,760 (Senegal – 2006 figures); 31,900 (the Gambia – 2006 figures) and 3,500 (Mauritania 2006 figures)[106] |
Some common Serer surnames are:
Other ethnic groups
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