A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

244 5 Noun phrase structure

b. 0-ogdaeh-\d3r-i t-e-basdde

3MaSgS-be.equal.Reslt-\with-1 Sg Fe-Sg-length

'He is as tall as I (am).' (lit. "He equals me [in] length") [Gao]

-uwvd- (PerfP -aewwasd-) 'reach, attain' can be used to indicate

attainment of equality with something. Its most common use is in questions

and in negative statements like (221), which provide a mechanism for

translating 'less than'.

(221) wser 0-aewwed abbä-nnet [daer t-sssajrat-t]
Neg 3MaSgS-reach.PerfN father-3SgPoss fin Fe-length-FeSg]
'He isn't at tall as (=he is shorter than) his father.' [K-d]

The transitive verb -mjvr- 'surpass' (Resit -ojaer-) can be used with a
simple NP object (Y) in the sense 'X be bigger than Y' or 'X be more than Y'.
In positive comparatives it is usually in Resit form. Additional asymmetrical
comparatives can be generated by adding an additional non-argument NP
(222).

(222) a. 0-oj<er-\a-hi t-a-yatte
3MaSgS-surpass.Reslt-\0-lSg Fe-Sg-intelligence
'He surpasses me in smartness.' (='He is smarter than I')

b. andek w-α 0-ojaer-aen

which? Ma-Dem.Sg 3MaSgS-surpass.Perf-Partpl.MaSg

t-e-baedde

Fe-Sg-length

'Who (=which of us/them) is tallest?'

c. 0-ojaer abba-nnet t-sssajrat-t

3MaSgS-suφass.Reslt father-3SgPoss Fe-length-FeSg

'He is taller than his father.' [K-d]

d. asmasra-s [daer [t-assiw-en t-i η In-dasr

now-0 [in [Fe-grass-FePl Fe-Dem.Sg PossDist-Anaph

affuqqae-t-nen]], andekAdahr-snaet

sprout.Reslt-Aug-Partpl.Pl]], which?-\in-3FePl

t-l-dasT 0-ojaer aelmaenfaei-aet?

Fe-Dem.Pl-Anaph 3MaSgS-surpass.Reslt benefit-Fe?

'Now, among the grasses mentioned above that have sprouted,

which of them has the most value?'

There is a noun ddday meaning 'the worst, the last'.
There is a verb -ulvh- (PerfP -olaeh-) 'resemble, be the same' that can also
be relevant to symmetrical comparatives.