A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

404 7 Verbal morphology

The other -uCu- verb with a stem paradigm identical to that of 'fall' in
(400) is -ufu- 'be better' (PerfP -οία-, Imprtifii, LoImpfP -t-ifii-). Its VblN's
are t-üfi-t-t and t-afi-t-t.
Two verbs that have some -uCu- forms but do not fit into any established
class are 'be born' (PerfP -awa-, Shlmpf -Iwi-, §7.3.2.17) and 'be lost' (PerfP
-aeba-, Shlmpf-Iba-, §7.3.2.16).
To show how the stem-final α of the perfectives discussed in this section
interacts with subject suffixes, I give full pronominal paradigms of the three
perfective stems for a representative verb in (401).

(401) Perfective System of -ojja- 'stretch (to look)'

PerfP PerfN (Neg waer) Resit

a. no suffix

1P1 n-ojja waer n-ojja n-ojja

3MaSg 0-ojja waer 0-ojja 0-ojja

3FeSg t-ojja waer t-djja t-ojja

b. contraction /a-ae/ > e with V-initial suffix

lSg ojje-γ waer ojje-γ ojje-v

2Sg t-djje-d waer t-ojje-d t-ojje-d

c. delete of stem-final la/ before V-initial suffix, leaving ae

3MaPl ojjae-n waer ojje-n ojja-n

2MaPl t-ojjae-m waer t-ojje-m t-ojjd-m

d. stem-final V appears as short V before C-initial suffix

2FePl t-ojjae-maet waer t-ojje-maet t-ojja-maet

3FePl ojjae-naet waer öjje-naet ojjd-naet

In (401.a) there is no subject suffix, so nothing happens to the stem-final α
other than the usual accent shift due to χ-pcl in the Resit. In (401.b), however,
stem-final /a/ contracts with the initial V of lSg -aer and of 2Sg -aed to
produce e. Since this contraction happens in all three perfective stems, it is a
quasi-phonological rule of the type /a + ae/ —» e. The PerfP and PerfN forms
have default accent (assigned after VV-Contraction), as shown by the phrasal
accent on Neg waer. In (401.c), with PI /-aeC/ subject suffixes, the stem-final
/a/ undergoes Presuffixal α-Shortening (§3.4.9.1) and then contracts with
suffixal /ae/ to give ae. In these combinations, the stem plus suffix is
rebracketed to form a sequence -u(C)CaeC- to which both PerfN ablaut and
full-fledged Resit ablaut can apply, hence the e in the PerfN and the accented
and lengthened ά in the Resit. In (401.d), the initial C of the suffix likewise
joins the stem by rebracketing to form -u(C)CaeC- after Presuffixal