A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

4.1 Noun morphology 173

t-akma t-akmaw-en 'pain'

t-lkra t-ikraw-en 'theft'

t-3-lulya t-i-lülyaw-en 'preaching'

t-orhanna t-orhannaw-en 'disease'

d. FePl ...y-en (only example)

t-ae-kana t-i-känay-en (R) 'burrgrass'

[other dialects: t-i-kaniw-en]

A fair number of those singular nouns ending in phonetic [i] break into a
vowel and homorganic semivowel before a vocalic suffix like MaPI -aen or
FePl -en (147).

(147) Stem-Final Vowel/Semivowel Alternations

singular plural gloss

a. common nouns (Sg i but PI ay)

se-bori i-boray-aen 'stick, club'

ά-fti 1-ftay-aen 'bird trap'

t-ufi-t-t t-üfay-aen 'diarrhoea'

t-a-vdeyadi-t-t t-i-rderadey-en 'wagtail (bird)'

ά-rri 1-rray-aen 'miscarried fetus'

ά-gli 1-glay-aen (A-grm) 'cud' (Vjl)

e-jeri i-jeray-aen 'gazelle'

a-krambi i-krambay-aen 'curve'

t-a-kruri-t-t t-i-krüray-en 'ball'

[PI also t-i-krura]

ae-korsi i-korsay-aen 'fennec (fox)'

ae-loki i-lokay-aen 'calf

t-a-mdi-t-t t-l-mday-en 'trap'

ά-nji 1-njay-aen 'rivulet'

a-saddi i-sadday-aen 'animal rope'

ά-zli I "l-zlay-aen (A-grm) 'removing bride'

[PI alsol-zaly-αη (T-ka)]

;rbal nouns in final ay with PI iy-

a-daqkay i-daqkiy-aen (A-grm) 'bumping'

a-hlayli i-hlayliy-aen 'joy'

a-m-ilay i-m-lliy-een 'circumcision'

a-s-üfay i-s-ufiy-aen 'making flow'

α-s-akkaday i-s-akkadiy-aen 'foraging'

α-zuzay i-züziy-asn 'filing (metal)'