A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

8.6 Verbal nouns 521

combination of a local L melodic element and a length formative, as with
unsuffixed nominal plurals, but α-f in VblN's does not affect stem-final V's
(see below on VblN's of augment verbs), whereas nominal PI ablaut converts a
a stem-final V to a.
It is also necessary to specify the phonological rules that apply to the
outputs of these primary ablaut rules. Consider the data in (553).

(553) Verbal Nouns of Heavy C-final Verbs with Short Vowels

gloss Imprt Sg VblN PI VblN

a. middleweight -CvCvC stems

'reject child' bsejaer

'be arrogant' baeraej

a-bajar

a-bajar

a-baraj

a-baraj

i-bajir-aen

i-bajar-aen

(etc.)

b. nonsyncopating middleweight and superheavy stems (-CvCC...)

'dust off bsekbaek α-bakbak i-bakbik-aen

'praise God' kaebbasr

'stumble'

'be coarse'

jaertasqqael

faersaessaen

a-bakbak

a-kabbar

a-kabbar

a-jartaqqal

a-jartaqqal

a-farsassan

a-farsassan

i-bakbak-aen

(etc.)

i-jartaqqil-aen

i-jartaqqal-aen

(etc.)

c. syncopating superheavy stems (-CvCV...)

'shine' malawlaw a-mlawlaw

a-mlawlaw

i-mlawliw-asn

i-mlawlaw-aen

'fall to side' baladway a-bladway

a-bladway

i-bladwiy-asn

i-bladway-aen

'bellow rajanjan a-rjanjan

a-rjanjan

(etc.)'

'joy' halaylay a-hlaylay

a-hlaylay

'be flabby' bakawkaw a-bkawkaw

a-bkawkaw

'trim' saramsaram a-sramsaram (T)

a-sramsaram

In (553.c), we observe that Stem-Initial Syncope (§3.2.7.1) applies
systematically to superheavy (but not -CvCvC-) stems beginning in -CvCV...