A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

9.1 Voice (valency) types of verbs 575

(608) Ambi-valent Verb

verb intransitive gloss transitive gloss

a. intransitive = (medio-)passive

-vbsvy- 'break up, disperse'

-vdrvr- 'be adorned'

-vffVy- 'be poured'

-vftvl- 'be put down'

-vhvr- '(pot) be covered'

-vkrvy- '(cow) be drained of milk'

'dismantle (tent)'

'adorn (sth)'

'pour (sth)'

'put (sth) down'

'cover (pot)'

'drain (cow) of milk'

b. intransitive = antipassive

-νκτυ- 'read'

-vkso- 'eat, have a meal'

'read (sth)'

'eat (sth)'

9.1.4 Transitive

The semantic range of Tamashek transitive verbs is unremarkable in most

respects. The prototypical transitive concepts, involving creation or physical

impact, like 'make', 'hit', 'twist', and 'cut', are simple transitives. So are

perception verbs like 'see'. Somewhat more interesting are the transitives

listed in (609).

(609) Transitive Verbs

-vkku- 'go to' is the 'go' verb used with a specified destination, which is
expressed as the direct object. A PerfP example with object NP is t-akka
e-haen 'she went to the house'. Note that the object NP has no locative
preposition. The destination can also be expressed as an object clitic:
Skkas-nAt 'they-Ma went to him'. The verb can be passivized: 0-aetw-aekka
'he was gone to'. A reciprocal version: aenm-äekkas-n 'they went to each
other'. A different verb -vjlu- expresses intransitive 'go, go away, depart' with
no specified destination.
Likewise, -vfvl- 'go from, leave' takes an object NP denoting the
departure point. Example: i-faelAad baemasko 'he left Bamako (on the way

-vkki>

-vflu-

'go to'

'leave, go from'

'be on (sth)'

'be in' (usually Resit -aha-)

'have' (usually Resit -aid-)

'exist' (usually Resit -slid-)

'lose'

-vwvr-

-vhi>

-νΐυ-

-νΐΐυ-

-vbu-