6.2 Pronominal suffixes with prepositions 275The suffixes -kmaet and -snaet are used even after C-final prepositions,
resulting in unusual triple CCC clusters. Examples: jannSj-kmaet 'above you-
FePl', jannaj-snaet 'above them-FePl'.
Some spatial prepositions have consistent C-final forms before pronominal
suffixes (dser-, dsev-, vor-, daw-, jsnnsj-). Others have a form ending in α
before pronominal suffix (faella-, data-, dara-), see §6.4.1.5-7. The a is
dropped before lSg -i.
After the prepositions that take the form CVC(C)a- (with final a) before a
pronominal, the suffixes 2MaPl -waen and 3MaPl -saen geminate their initial
C's in all dialects, hence faella-wwaen 'on them-Ma' and faella-ssasn 'on them-
Fe'. In most dialects (Gao Κ R T-ka T-md), this does not apply to 1P1, the
other plural pronominal of similar -CvC shape: faella-naer 'on us'. One effect
is that all 2nd and 3rd person PI suffixes of both genders begin with a CC
cluster after these prepositions. A-grm and Im dialects do geminate the η of the
1P1 suffix after V-final preposition allomorph: faella-nnaer 'on us' (A-grm),
dawa-nnaer 'under us' (Im).
Compound prepositions, some of them fairly frozen (like daedes = d
"ae-des 'beside, next to'), are described in §6.5.
6.3 Dative (or Purposive)
The dative preposition is used for the addressee argument of -νηηυ- 'say', and
for a wide range of other indirect object arguments. With a few verbs like
-vmmvY- 'seek, look for' and -vrrvs- 'slaughter', the sole complement is
expressed as dative, as in ammaeY-aevAa-s Ί looked.PerfP for it.' With
ditransitive verbs like -vkfu- 'give' and -s-vknu- 'show', the recipient and
theme (i.e. the object given or shown) may both appear in nonprepositional
direct object form, but if both are pronominalized the recipient must be in
dative form (§9.1.4). The Dative can also be used for non-argument
purposive (including benefactive) NPs.
Before a noun, the Dative preposition takes the form e (dialectally also "0
before a consonant, and y before a vowel. Dative pronominal clitics are based
on a morpheme -\ha-, reduced (for T-ka) in some positions to Aha-, followed
by a pronominal morpheme. See §10.3.2. In the form y, the Dative preposition
occurs in purposive clauses, which begin with y a-\d, or y a-\ before a clitic
(a is a minimal demonstrative). In either allomorph, the Dative preposition can
be used before a VblN in an alternative purposive construction. See §13.2.1.
The Dative, alone among simple prepositions, cannot be fronted and
cliticized to its extracted complement NP in relativization or focalization.
Perhaps this is because e is the only adnominal preposition that consists
entirely of a vowel (in clitic position it could disappear due to VV-
Contraction). The Dative is replaced by Instrumental -\s, a "neutral"
cliticized preposition also used in 'that' complements, in these extraction