A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

4.1 Noun morphology 221

4.1.1.19 melody expanded for heavy stems

While monosyllabic stems reduce the vocalic melody to just «α» in a
monosyllable, stems of three or more syllables subject to suffixless plural
ablaut attach the L component to the stem-final vowel (which is lengthened if
short), and spread the Η over the remaining syllables (keeping their underlying
length). The resulting vocalic sequences are trisyllabic «a a α», «a u α», and
«u a α». Quadrisyllable sequences of the same type are possible, but some
such stems are subject to Syncope and therefore surface as trisyllables; see
(203), below. Simple examples of multisyllabic ablaut plurals are in (196).

(196) Unsuffixed Ablaut Plural of Multisyllabic Stem

Sg PI gloss

a. Plural «3 3 α» (C-final)

a-hsrgaggam i-hargaggam 'Senna plant'

a-kaellaekol i-kallakal 'butter skin'

e-n-aebaelael i-n-abslal (A-grm) 'favored child'

t-a-falladst-t t-i-falladad 'padded saddle'

[PI also t-i-fallada (A-grm)]

t-a-kadabdab-t t-i-kadabdab (A-grm) 'large frog sp.'

t-a-m-ssssctak-k t-i-m-asssdak I 'zakat (tithe)

t-a-rjayraji-t-t t-i-rjayrajay 'central

location'

t-a-s-aqqasan-t t-i-s-aqqasan 'chewstick'

t-a-wazazi-t-t ι < t-i-w9z3zay (A-grm) 'ankle'

b. Plural «a a α» (V-final)

a-zaemmaezro i-zamma?ra 'roller (bird)'

e-n-aeddaerfe i-n-addarfa 'freed slave'

a-s-aggafi i-s-aggafa (A-grm) 'funnel'

a-s-ahhasku i-s-ahhsska 'decorating'

a-s-aejjaerhu i-s-sjjsrha 'future status'

s-aeggaeyfo i-s-sggayfa (A-grm) 'scarecrow'

[PI usually suffixal s-aeggaeyfo-taen]

t-a-faerfasru-t-t t-i-farfsra 'carp (fish)'

t-a-magalla t-i-msgalla 'cowry-shell'

c. PI «a u a»

ae-m-aedderval i-m-addurral 'blind man'

ae-m-aehhayyu i-m-ahhuyya 'hunter'

ae-m-aettaqkul i-m-attugkal 'invisible one'

e-maejjejjaer i-majjüjjar 'collarbone'

a-s-sggamu i-s-3gguma 'body cover'