A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

520 5 Verbal derivation

(Imprt üdab, PerfP -sdub-). There are also some masculine VblN's of similar

stem-shape, usually with the final C geminated: 3-mud or 3-mudd 'praying'

(Imprt umad), 3-zukk (or as-zukk) 'heaviness' (Imprt Izak), 3-zumm

(arguably ae-zumm) 'fasting' (Imprt szum but LoImpfP -t-lzum-), sjutt 'being

many' (no PI; ImprtIjat).

Other minor VblN patterns, some "borrowed" from other verb types, can

be gleaned from the lists in §7.3.1.9.

8.6.1.4 Verbal nouns of non-augment heavy verbs

In the preceding sections I showed that light verb stems have a wide range of

VblN shapes correlated with precise shape of the stem, and generally allowing

some minority patterns alongside the productive ones. The heavy stems, on the

other hand, have a relatively uniform VblN pattern than can be captured by a

componential ablaut model.

These VblN's are masculine, with occasional feminine counterparts

(generally instantiating). The Sg vocalic prefix is α-. The stem itself is

characterized by the ablaut components in (551).

(551) Ablaut Components for Verbal Nouns of Heavy Stems

symbol description

<H> high vocalic melody

χ-pen stem-penultimate accent (applies before deletion

of final V)

α-f (optional) α replaces s in stem-final closed syllable

χ-f (PI only) final stem-syllable 9 lengthened before PI suffix

Examples including variants due to the optional α-f are in (552).

(552) VblN's for -jvynvn- 'beg'

Sg PI

simple VblN a-jaynsn i-jaynin-aen

VblN with α-f a-jaynan i-jsynan-aen

The foundational VblN stem is -jaynsn-, constructed by applying
melody and χ-pen to the basic form -jvynvn- of the verb. The PI involves the
usual affixes (PI i- vocalic prefix, and MaPl suffix -asn), but VblN's also
require lengthening of a final-syllable schwa to i before the PI suffix (χ-ί),
hence i-jaynin-asn. The Sg VblN has an optional variant showing α-f, hence
a-jaynan, with the expected PI i-jsynan-aen. α-f is roughly equivalent to the