532 8 Verbal derivationmay have played a role (the two variant forms for 'dwarfhood' were obtained
only from the main T-ka informant). Another apparent exception is alluggas
'being an in-law' (562.e) and its feminine counterpart in (562.b), if the input is
α-laggas with no full V in the stem, but there is a dialectal variant a-laggus
that does have a full V.
Since the abstractive nominals in (562.a-f) are taken from large word-
families including other nouns ('noble') and verbs ('be noble'), there is some
ambiguity as to the input form on which the abstractive ablaut is based. For
example, as-babas 'cross-cousin' is associated with a verb (-vbubvs-, e.g.
PerfP -2eboba2s-) 'be a cross-cousin'. Depending on precisely how abstractive
ablaut is formulated, either as-babas or -vbubvs- could serve as input form
(the latter is actually closer to the abstractive in V-length patterns). In the case
of 'shiftlessness' in (562.d), the abstractive is most likely based on the verb
-buyyu- (+ -t) 'be shiftless'. The only human noun similar to those in the left
column of (562) is the agentive a-n-aebbayyu 'shiftless one', and its Agentive
prefix -n- is absent in the abstractive. Likewise, 'preaching' in (562.b) may
well be based directly on the verb -lulvy- 'preach'. These considerations
suggest that the other abstractives in the right column of (562) may also be
directly based on verbs. However, the verbs in many word-families are
themselves arguably denominal, e.g. -lullu- (+ -t).
'Cousinhood' denotes a kind of joking relationship widespread in West
Africa, and may apply between ethnicities (for example, Dogon and Boso),
extended clans (the Maiga and the Toure among Songhay), or to kinship-
defined cross-cousins. The word-family for the "root" "vbydj usually denotes
'off-white color (of camel)' in the Timbuktu area, and (as Vbydg) 'theft' in
A-grm (and in Niger). The abstractives 'cousinhood' and 'thievery' denote
behavioral complexes, e.g. 'acting as a X'. 'Blacksmith-hood' refers to the
distinctive caste of blacksmiths (and leather-workers). 'Kinship, family' is
interesting morphologically since the apparent Fe prefix of t-irwa is treated as
part of the (inner) stem for derivational purposes.
The same kind of abstractive sense is seen in the masculine abstractives in
(562.e-f)· For example, allallu denotes the quality of being free-born (not slave
or vassal), and akkalu does the same for being born a slave, ammusar denotes
the bellicose and haughty behavior of warriors, a traditional Tuareg caste after
whom "Tamashek" is named.
In the cases in (563), abstractives beginning in a relate to qualities or
states rather than fixed human categories, so a deverbal origin makes more
sense. Except for the irregular case in (563.c), the forms resemble the
masculines in (562.c-e), above.