A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

222 4 Nominal and pronominal morphology

a-s-akkakal i-s-skkukal

a-s-smm-utay i-s-smm-ülay

as-ass-anjasr i-s-sss-unjar

a-han-s-adak i-hsn-s-udak

s-hsn-z-azsY i-hsn-z-uzar

ae-haen-zabbu i-han-zubba

t-a-föggora t-i-ßqgura

t-e-m-aejjejrs-t-t t-i-m-sjjujra

'sole (of foot)'

'joint'

'obstacle'

'camping spot'

'inhabited area'

'host'

'baobab fruit'

'sterile female'

d. PI «3333 α» (C-final)

t-a-s-aggaraygari-t-t t-i-saggaraygaray 'roller (bird)'

e. PI «3 3 u a»

t-a-faeqkaeyamu-t-t t-i-faqkayuma 'mussel shell'

I have no example of surface «3 u 3 α», but such a sequence underlies
surface «u 3 α» observed after Syncope in PI t-i-fdüfsda (for Sg
t-a-faedofiedo-t-t 'Tragus grass', §4.1.2.22).

4.1.1.20 Carryover of stem vowels from singular to plural

A few stems have marginal ablaut plurals, recorded for the A-grm dialect, that
retain the singular vocalism in the first syllable(s) of the plural stem, but end in
one or two syllables consistent with the basic plural melody. In these cases, the
melody does not attach to all vocalic positions in the stem. All
examples do have the usual full α in the final vocalic position. Data in (197).

(197) Carryover of Singular Vocalism in Onset of Ablaut Plural

There are other cases included in various sets of ablaut forms where some
or all of the Sg/Pl vocalism converges. In a case like Sg α-hulel 'young
donkey', PI i-hülal, the Sg already has u, so the only change in stem vocalism
from Sg to PI is in the final syllable.
In a few cases (198), the Sg and PI have identical vowel sequences. I
interpret this as accidental, in that the Sg already happens to have a lexical
vocalism compatible with the PI melody. The absence of a plural suffix
strongly suggests that an ablaut plural is at hand.

singular plural gloss

t-ae-koynzamin-t t-i-koynzuma (A-grm) 'Egyptian goose'

e-belbel i-belbal (A-grm) 'egret'