A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

380 7 Verbal morphology

Forms with e also occur in other Tuareg varieties. For Niger, LTF2 424-5
gives 3MaSg perfective "ewäd" (Tawellemmett) or "yewäd" (Tayert, with
3MaSgS y-) for 'atteindre' (i.e. 'reach'), but does not give forms with other
subject categories. For Algeria, DTF 3.1461 gives "ieoued" (omitting
diacritics), probably y-ewaed. Overall, this is clearly an area of considerable
dialectal instability.

There is one verb whose PerfP is -owasC- in T-ka and Kidal-area dialects
rather than -aewwaeC-. This is PerfP -owass- 'pay tribute (or taxes) to'. Given
the sense, I suspect this may be an inter-dialectal borrowing. In the past, tribute
was paid by vassal clans to warrior clans, who often came from the north or
east. I have recorded 3MaSg PerfP i-waes and e-waes in the Gao area,
suggesting that the stem has been integrated into the productive -uwvC-
pattern in these dialects.

In (379) I present two verbs that differ from all of the above in beginning
with u at least in the perfective. There are no others of this type.

(379) -ojvj- and -unjvy-

'be far away' 'refuse'

-ujvj- -unjvy-

a. perfective system

PerfP -üjaj- -ünjasy-

Reslt -ujaj- -unjay-

PerfN -üjaj- -ünjey-

b. short imperfective system

Shlmpf -apj- -ünjay-

Imprt ajaj ünjay

c. long imperfective system

LoImpfP -t-ljsj

LoImpfN

Prohib

d. nominalization

VblN

-nijjuy-

[dialectally -nuggay- or -t-ünjay-

•t-ysj- -riijjuy-, -najjuy-

t-ljaj- -riijjuy-, -najjuy-

ijsj t-ünji-t-t

With 'be far away', we have a verb whose imperfectives show the same
shapes as those of 'tie' in (377), above. The VblN is irregular but does show
the same stem-shape as in the long imperfectives. The perfective forms are
based on -ujsj-. The PerfN is identical to the PerfP. The Resit -ujsj- shows the
effects of χ-pcl (accent), but not of χ-pcl (V-lengthening). The irregular
perfect!ves and the avoidance of χ-pcl in the Resit are typical features of