| Cangin | |
| Region: | Senegal, the Gambia |
| Ethnicity: | Serer |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | (Senegambian) |
| Glotto: | cang1245 |
| Glottorefname: | Cangin |
| Child1: | Saafi-Saafi |
| Child2: | Lehar–Noon |
| Child3: | Palor–Ndut |
The Cangin languages pronounced as /ˈtʃaŋin/ are spoken by 200,000 people (as of 2007) in a small area east of Dakar, Senegal. They are the languages spoken by the Serer people who do not speak the Serer language (Serer-Sine). Because the people are ethnically Serer, the Cangin languages are commonly thought to be dialects of the Serer language. However, they are not closely related; Serer is closer to Fulani than it is to Cangin.
The Cangin languages are:
Lehar and Noon are particularly close, as are Ndut and Palor, though not quite to the point of easy intelligibility. Safen is transparently closer to Lehar–Noon than to Palor–Ndut.
Merrill (2018: 451) reconstructs Proto-Cangin as follows.[1]
| gloss | Proto-Cangin | Noon | Lehar | Safen | Ndut | Palor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eye |
| has | kuu-koas | has | i̟l | ’i̟l | |
| tongue |
| peɗim p- | pi̟ri̟m | peɗem | pereem | pereem | |
| eat |
| ñam | ñam | ñaam | ñam | ñam | |
| breast |
| ɓi̟iɓ | ɓi̟iɓ | (w)ɓip | ɓi̟iɓ | ɓi̟iɓ | |
| four |
| nikiis | nikis | iniil | iniil | ||
| dog |
| ɓu̟u | ɓuh f- | ɓuh f- | ɓux f- | ||
| intestine |
| look | look | rook | loo | loo | |
| wing |
| paɓ | paɓ | (d)pab | pap | ||
| cow |
| enoh f- | enoh | ’inoh | fana f- | fana’ f- | |
| blow = nose |
| ñii̟d-uk | ñii̟d-uk | ñii̟d~ñii̟n | |||
| pound |
| oɗ | oɗ | ’oɗ | xoɗ | ||
| jaw |
| kaaɓ ‘cheek’ | kaɓaɓ k- | kabaap | |||
| new |
| as | as | ’as | has | xas | |
| see |
| hot | hot | hot | ot~ol- | od~ol- | |
| swallow |
| on | on | ’on | (d)hon | xon | |
| bury |
| ac | ac | ’ac | hac | xac | |
| bear child |
| li̟m | li̟m | (w)rim | li̟m | ||
| dance |
| ham | ham | ||||
| hold in teeth |
| ŋaaɓ | ŋaɓ | ŋaɓ | ŋaɓ | ||
| year |
| kii̟s k- | kii̟s | kiis k- | kii̟l | kii̟l | |
| tree |
| kedik k- | kedek | kiɗig k- | kilik | kilik k- | |
| bird |
| sel | sel | sel | |||
| bury |
| u̟ub~u̟um | uumb | ||||
| be able |
| mi̟n | min | mi̟n | min | ||
| resemble |
| mad~man | man | mad~man | mad~man | ||
| be short |
| looƴ (lohoƴ) | looƴ | (s)rohoƴ | (d)luh | lux | |
| leaf/bark |
| to̟oɓ t-, oɓ | po̟o | (w)’op | huɓ | ||
| sun |
| noh | noh | noh | (d)na’ | na’ | |
| ear |
| nof | nof | (w)noef | nuf | nuf | |
| head |
| haf | haf | haf | ’af | ’af | |
| liver |
| keeñ | keeñ | keeñ k- | (d)keeñ | ||
| star |
| hol | ol | hor | hul | xul | |
| rain |
| toɓ | toɓ | toɓ | tooɓ | ||
| pestle |
| koɗ k- | koɗ | kuɗ k- | kuɗ k- | ||
| goat |
| pe’ f- | peɗ | peh f- | pe f- | pe f- | |
| cloth/rag |
| lii̟l | lii̟l | lii̟l | lii̟l | ||
| baobab |
| ɓoh | ɓoh | ɓoh | ɓa | ɓa’ | |
| finger |
| jokun j- | jokon | ndukun | kun | kun | |
| sneeze |
| tes | ti̟s | (s)tisoh | (d)ti̟s | ti̟s | |
| ant |
| ñii̟ñ | ñii̟ñ | ñiñoh f- | (d)ñii̟ñ f- | ñii̟n f- | |
| rear/raise |
| koɗ | koɗ | koɗ | kod | ||
| honey |
| ku̟um k- | ku̟um | (d)ku̟um k- | ku̟um k- | ||
| horse |
| pen̟is̟ f- | pan̟is̟ | panis | pan̟is̟ f- | ||
| causative |
| -iɗ̟ | -iɗ̟ | -iɗ | -iɗ̟ | -iɗ̟ | |
| anticausative |
| -uk | -ok | -uk | -oh | -ox | |
| reversive |
| -i̟s | -i̟s | -is | -i̟s | -i̟s | |
| negative |
| -ɗii | -ɗi |