A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

362 7 Verbal morphology

(365) Examples of α/u and u/u Subclasses of -vCCu- Verbs

a/u

'be separated'

u/u

'be churned'

a. perfective system

PerfP -abda-ι

Resit -abdd-

PerfN -abda-

-andu-

-andu-

-andu-

b. short imperfective system

Shlmpf -abdu-

Imprt abdu

-andu-

andu

c. long imperfective system

LoImpfP -biddu-

LoImpfN -baddu-

Prohib -baddu-

-niddu-

-naddu-

-naddu-

d. nominalization

VblN t-a-baddaw-t t-a-naddaw-t

The u-final stems are unproblematic with reference to VV-Contraction.
The u always surfaces, since it survives under contraction with initial /as/ in
subject suffixes: biddu-n 'they-Ma are separated' (3MaPl -εεη), t-asu-m 'you-
MaPl will cough' (2MaPl -aem)
The major difference between the α/u and u/u subtypes is the final V of the
perfective system stems. Another difference is that the α/u subclass is limited
to stems with a medial PQ cluster, while the u/u subclass has stems with either
CC or C. Note in particular the consistent vocalism throughout the
imperfectives. Both types have a LoImpfP pattern -PiQQu- involving T-c2
(gemination) in addition to the usual V-length and accent features (χ-pcl,
χ-pcl). Since vocalism in light verbs is normally associated with a lexical
high full V, this suggests that the lexical stem-final υ is u in both subclasses, in
contrast to the ah subclass. The difference between the two subclasses is that
the α/u subclass but not the u/u subclass allows the lexical u to be overridden
by the L part of the perfective melody.
A fuller list of verbs of the α/u type is in (366). All examples known to me
have a nongeminate CC cluster.