A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

8.1 Causative 449

In the double prefixation case, the interesting features relate to the form of
the second prefix and of the stem-initial full V. The second -s- is geminated
(by C,-Gemination) in the short imperfectives (including Imprt), and in the
VblN. In the perfectives, we get strict melody, hence α after the prefixes
(-ies-s-adaeh-) instead of o. These features recur in other combinations of
Causative -s- with a following derivational prefix (e.g. Mediopassive -m-); see
§8.1.8.
The common verb 'milk (e.g. a cow)' probably originated as a causative of
this class, but it is not regular. The underlying intransitive is -azzaej- '(e.g.
cow) be milked', also occasionally used in transitive sense 'milk (a cow)'. The
more common, and therefore arguably lexicalized, transitive (causative) forms
are these: PerfP -sez-ozasj- (and Resit -aez-ozaej-), Shlmpf -z-üzaj-, LoImpfP
-z-izuj-, LoImpfN -z-lzuj-, VblN o-z-iizaj. The imperfectives and the VblN
are compatible with the paradigm of 'make flow', but there is no gemination of
the prefixal ζ in the perfective (in T-ka and R dialects). For A-grm, I did
record PerfP -azz-ozaeg- (and LoImpfP -z-iizij-), so apparently in that dialect
this behaves like a regular causative.

In eliciting large numbers of causatives for the R speaker, I recorded a few
cases of verbs of the single-prefix type like 'make flow' in (455), but with the
PerfP shape -sess-aCaeC- with strict melody, hence medial α instead of ο
or e. Some of these causatives are probably not in common use, and the
-aess-aCasC- pattern may have reflected "elicition-ese," mixing the two types
in (455). However, that such forms occurred does indicate that the patterns
-sess-oCaeC- and -aess-eCaeC- with medial mid-height V's (due to V-Height
Compromise) are less than fully stable.

8.1.5 Causative stem shapes (inputs with initial or medial full vowel)

I now turn to causatives of true -DCVC- stems (456). The causatives merge
with those of -vPPvC- verbs (455) in the perfectives, but not in the
imperfectives and VblN, where the causative of -vPPvC- is based on -s-uPvC-
while the causative of -DCVC- is based on -s-iCvC-. Similarly, the double
causatives from -vPPvC- are based on -s-vs-uPvC-, while those from -uCvC-
are based on -s-vs-iCvC-.