A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

5.2 Possession and compounding 269

For 'sand-plover', ae-dasr-aylul or variant ae-daer-dylal is interpreted by
some natives as a slightly irregular compound of ά-daer 'foot' (arguably ά-dar)
and 'guinea-fowl', the latter normally expressed as t-oylal-t.
For 'yellow flower sp.' (Senecio or similar), I recorded t-ett-aerar, cf. t-ett
'eye' and PerfP -aerav- 'be yellow'. For at least some speakers, the stem is
treated as a unit for purposes of suffixal pluralization: PI t-ett-aerar-en. The
compound is frozen, compare the regular participial construction t-ett
t-aeraer-aet 'yellow eye'.

J. 2.4.8 Phrasal compounds

A few phrasal compounds are attested, particularly for flora-fauna species. The
construction is not as productive as in languages of southern Mali, for
example.

(265) Phrasal Compounds (shown with word boundary)

a. s-awaf e-jhasn

Caus-be.frightened.Shlmpf Sg-troop

'quail sp.' (Codornix sp.)

b. jazaey t-a-fukk

look.up.Shlmpf Fe-Sg-sun

'herb sp. that follows sun' (Heliotropium sp.)

[for jazaey see discussion below]

c. kswkaew i-rbab

peck.Shlmpf Pl-tree.hole

'woodpecker'

d. laevlaer am-an

lick.Shlmpf water-MaPl

'pinkie (little finger)'

e. aggsd t-a-rsat-t

jump.Shlmpf Fe-Sg-excrement-FeSg

'scrub-robin sp.'

[for dialectal variants see (266), below]

f. t-allar d-xx

3FeSgS-lick. Shlmpf Sg-milk

'herb sp. with milky sap' (Euphorbia sp.)

[dialectally also contractions like t-a-lldx]