A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

8.10 Denominal agentives (-mces-, -nces-, etc.) 553

change in noun stem (<L> melody and χ-f)

α-duban 'marrying' ae-naes-ddban 'bridegroom'

(a-s-addarfi'freeing') ae-naes-daerfa 'freer of slaves'

ae-jafu 'doing evil' as-naes-jafa 'evil-doer'

(alziwab 'reply' [<Ar]) ae-maes-jawab 'respondent'

d. change in noun stem (irregular)

t-ldatt 'truth' ae-maes-detti 'truthful one'

For A-grm I also recorded a-naes-bayyu 'shiftless one', which is
problematically related to the abstractive nominal abbayyu 'shiftlessness'. I
suspect that a-naes-bayyu is a mutation from Agentive a-n-aebbayyu 'shiftless
one' (recorded for T-ka), but #ae-bayyu would be an acceptable VblN form (in
eastern dialects) for the verb -buyyu- (+ -t) 'be shiftless'.
There are two combinations in (579) glossed 'guide', reflecting two
different stems for the base noun 'road'.
a-naes-baeraj 'boaster' is phonologically interesting, since the VblN
a-baeraj should in theory be a-bsraj (variant of α-baraj with optional α in the
final syllable, §8.6.1.4). The verb is -bvrvj- (PerfP -abbaraej-). Since r is a
BLC, the preceding short V is heard as [ae] whether it represents underlying Is/
or /ae/. The fact that the prefix is -nass- instead of -nas- indicates that native
speakers have no clear sense that the first V of -baeraj is an underlying schwa.
The examples in (579.c-d) show modification of the form of the noun. In
as-naes-ddban 'bridegroom' and some other examples, we observe a
melody corresponding to or in the noun, ae-naes-daban also shows
lengthening of the final syllable (χ-f). though I cannot determine whether χ-f
is valid for the other cases in (579.c). In unsuffixed ablaut plurals, we get the
usual melody overlain on the vocalism of the Sg, e.g. ae-naes-ddban
'bridegroom' and PI i-nas-düban 'bride and groom' (or 'bridegrooms'). In this
particular case, the PI is more common than the Sg, raising the suspicion that
the Sg has been back-formed. Other plurals are i-nas-durfa 'freers of slaves'
and i-nas-duma 'farmers'.
A specialized offshoot of the -mass- derivation, for K-d dialect, is shown
in (580).

(580) Sheep Dentition Terms

Sg PI gloss

a. α-maes-saedis i-mas-sadas 'ram with complete dentition'

b. α-m-aekkaezo i-m-akkaza 'ram with partial dentition'

These terms are used to describe age grades of (castrated) rams. (580.a) is
morphologically straightforward, being based on the numeral saedis (variant of
sadis) 'six'. The reference is to the full set of six lower front teeth in a mature