A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

7.3 Verb classes and irregular verbs 385

In view of the and perfective melodies, both of which assign L
melodic component to the medial full V, one could argue that the perfective e
or ο vowel represents V-Height Compromise, i.e. the combination of lexical
high V (i or u) with L. The VblN t-ae-vil-t with i is suggestive in this regard.
However, recognizing V-Height Compromise for these verbs would contrast
starkly with the behavior of the more numerous verbs of the types in (381) and
(382), above, which simply shrug off the L melodic component in the
perfective. Because of this discrepancy, it is perhaps best to take e and ο in

(382) as lexical.
There are two verbs with medial α in the imperfective that may be relevant
here. However, they are clearly adjectival in sense and I prefer to treat them in
the following section (§7.3.1.10). They are (PerfP) -aeynay- 'be new' and
-aerah- 'be raw'. There are also some other verbs in that same section, like
(PerfP) -aeddew- 'accompany, be with', that differ from the verbs considered
here only in geminating the medial C in perfectives.
Summarizing the data in this section, the analysis in (383) is suggested.

(383) Analysis of Non-Adjectival -v(C)CuC- Verbs

a. basic lexical representations: -v(C)CuC- with u=(iue), and for

some dialects one case of ο ;

b. perfective has <L> or <H L> melody, but L melodic component

does not affect the medial full V;

c. imperfectives and VblN replace the initial short V by u if the stem

has a lexical u, otherwise by i, and convert the medial full V to a.

For Gao I have recorded a verb 'ferment' (said of a meal with dried meat

marinated in butter): PerfP -aeqqum-, Imprt aeqqum (arguably aqqum

phonemically), LoImpfP -t-lqumu-t, VblN tqqum.

For A-grm dialect I recorded PerfP -naefaf-, Imprt nafuf, and LoImpfP

-t-lnafuf- 'compare (two things, to determine which is best)'. In other dialects

this is a V-final stem -nvyufu-, e.g. PerfP -senyafa- and Imprt nsyuf (attested

for R and T-ka). All these forms have an obscure historical connection to -υίυ-

(PerfP -ofa-) 'be better than'.

7.3.1.10 Verbs (mostly adjectival) with Imprt "i(C)CaC and PerfP -vCCuC-

The verbs in this section, mostly adjectival in sense, have MAN stem

paradigms that resemble those of the non-adjectival verbs in §7.3.1.9, above.

The imperfectives and (usually) VblN's again show the «ί α» vocalic

sequence, while the perfectives begin with a short V and have either <L> or

<H> stem-wide melody.

An important difference is that verbs in this section with an ungeminated

medial C in the imperfectives geminate it in the perfectives, unlike the case in