A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

8.1 Causative 453

of the underlying verbs have a full V in both the perfective and imperfective
systems, this must be due to an ablaut-linked morphophonological rule (459),
repeated from (123).

(459) Causative Final-Syllable V-Shortening (repeated from (123)}

A full V in the final syllable of an underived verb with

imperfective -i/uC(C)aC- is reduced to a short V in the basic form

of the causative.

In the initial (=penultimate) syllable, the underived stems have a full V in
the imperfective (i or u) and a short V in the perfective (normally a for T-ka
and A-grm, normally ae for other dialects). In (458.b-c), the causative sides
with the underived imperfective in this respect and shows a full V immediately
following the prefixal sibilant. In the other cases, the causative agrees with the
underived perfective, so following the prefixal sibilant we get a short V. In the
causative perfective, this short V is then syncopated (Stem-Initial Syncope)
where syllabically possible, i.e. in an open syllable (458.a, e-g), and it is
preserved otherwise (458.d).
There is some ambiguity here as to the (morpho-)phonological processes
involved. Most (but not all) cases of preservation of initial full V in the
causatives involve u rather than i, but this division does not work cleanly. In
addition, most cases of preservation involve non-adjectival senses (458.b-c),
while most that undergo shortening in the causative are adjectival in sense, but
again this correlation is not clean. I formulate (460) half-heartedly to account
for (some of) the data above, repeated from (124). If the causative is based, in
the relevant cases, on the underived perfective rather than imperfective, the
rule is not needed.

(460) Causative Initial V-Shortening (repeated from (124))

A full V in the first syllable of an underived bisyllabic

imperfective -i/uC(C)aC- verb is reduced to a short V in the basic

form of the causative, [with exceptions; rule assumes that input is

underived imperfective]

Both Causative Final-Syllable V-Shortening and Causative Initial
V-Shortening (if the latter is valid at all) could be described as pre-ablaut
reconfigurations, since they apply across the full set of causative stems. These
two rules are complemented by Causative Medial V-Shortening (122), see
(468), below.
While (458.b-c) suggest an alignment of the causative with the underived
imperfective, insofar as they both show a full u or i in the onset of the stem
proper, it is not completely out of the question to take the underived perfective
shape -v(C)Ci/uC- as basic to both. Comparison with such cases as (PerfP =