A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

4.1 Noun morphology 223

(198) Accidental Identity of Sg/Pl Vowel Sequences

singular plural

t-a-magalla

t-3-suyya

a-mallal

t-i-magalla (A-grm)

t-l-suyya

i-mallal

gloss

'cowry-shell'

'alfa grass'

'addax (antilope)'

4.1.1.21 Sg <o ii» (or «οε u»), PI «u α»

There are a number of bisyllabic verb stems that have <o u» (dialectally «ae u»)
vocalism in the perfectives versus (in some dialects) «u α» in the (short and
long) imperfectives (§7.3.1.9). Within verbal morphology, it appears that a
lexical u moves from one syllable to the other. (There are also some similar
cases involving i instead of u.)
One verb stem of this type, 'to share' (PerfP -azun-, Shlmpf üzan,
disregarding dialectal variants), also occurs in a feminine noun with the same
stem alternation (199).

(199) Singular <o u», Plural «u α»

singular plural gloss

t-ae-zun-t t-uzan-en '(a) share, division'

4.1.1.22 Syncope, Accent Reattachment, and apparent Fe PI accent shift in
unsuffixed ablaut plurals

In this section I consider Syncope and Accent Reattachment (from the deleted

V to the preceding V) in plurals of the melodic type <H L> described in the

preceding sections.

Syncope and Accent Reattachment are illustrated in (200).

(200) Sg -V-CvCuC-, PI -i-CCaC (T-ka, etc.) or -i-CaCaC (A-grm)

singular plural gloss

a. masculine (regular)

α-baerom l-bram

a-bsetol 1-btal

a-baeyoT i-byav

e-dasrem l-dram

a-daeloy 1-dlay

'Vetiveria grass'

'ground depression'

'waterskin'

'cool wind'

'lip'