A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

7.3 Verb classes and irregular verbs 429

7.3.2.17 'be born' (Vvvj

The basic forms are in (436).

(436) 'be born'

LoImpfP

VblN

PerfP

Imprt

-awa-

Iwi

-t-iwi-

t-iwi-t-t 'birth'

This is the only - vCu- or - uCu- verb with this vocalism in the
imperfective. The melody in PerfP -awo- is regular for -v(C)Cu- verbs
of the α/ι subtype, cf. -sja- 'do' (§7.3.2.14) and the verbs in §7.3.1.3.
Some inflected LoImpfP forms are 3MaPl t-lwi-n and 2Sg t-lwi-d.

7.3.2.18 'be unripe'(^rh)

The sense 'be unripe, raw, uncooked' lends itself to a stative rather than an

inchoative usage (inchoative 'become raw/uncooked' is a strange

combination).

(437) 'be unripe'

The verb occurs commonly in the Resit -aerdh- and its participles (MaSg

0-aerah-aen, FeSg t-aerdh-aet 'unripe'). The imperfectives make little sense

pragmatically, and informants had difficulty producing them.

7.3.2.19 'pick up' (y/dkl, y/U, etc.)

The perfectives and short imperfectives, i.e. the stems of shape -vCCvl-, differ

in the form of the CC cluster. These differences also have implications for the

long imperfectives, where the two relevant C's (unless geminate) are separated

by a vowel.

PerfP -aerah-

Imprt -srah-, -Irah-

LoImpfP -t-irah-

nominal t-arash-aet 'ripe or undercooked food'