A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

8.12 Other nominals 563

There is also an attested Agent/Instrument <L> nominal with Reciprocal

-nvm-. For semantic reasons it is normally found in the plural (593). The Sg

ae-n-asm-ahaz is not common but can be elicited.

(593) i-naem-ahaz-asn

Pl-Recip-approach-MaPl

'(the) ones who approach (=are near) each other'

A more common (and more regular) form is agentive e-naemm-ehasz
'close kinsman' (cf. also as-n-ahaz 'close kinsman' in A-grm).
The Agent/Instrument pattern can also apply to complex prefixal
derivations involving e.g. Caus -s- preceding Reciprocal -nvm- or
Mediopassive -m- (-n-). Examples are in (594). Note the final-syllable a.

(594) Agent/Instrument Nominals with Melody from Complex Prefixal
Derivations

verb gloss VblN <L> nominal gloss

a. causative of Reciprocal -nvm-

'adjust' a-s-snnam-ahal a-s-aennasm-aehal 'adjuster'

[VblN also a-s-annam-ahal]

b. causative of Mediopassive or Reciprocal -m- (-n-)

'pour' a-s-ann-affay a-s-asnn-aeffay

'tie' a-s-amm-akras a-s-aemm-aekras

'one who pours'

'one who ties

rope segments'

8.12.2 Other nominal derivations

Other nominal formations, in most cases not involving a derivational prefix,
are listed below with the available examples. Several of these patterns involve
feminine morphology. Some of these resemble patterns that have a derivational
prefix. For example, the pattern ά-CCaC could be connected with ά-s-CsC
(§8.11).
In (595) I give a number of patterns involving e after the first C of the
stem.