A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

604 10 Clitics

(668) Second and Third Person Object Clitics (T-ka, K-d)

person postverbal after α

(occasionally after i)

elsewhere

2MaSg (i)-\k

2FeSg (i)-\m

-\kasy

-\kaem

2MaPl (i)-\wasn

2FePl (i)-\kmaet

Akaewaen

-\kaemst

3FeSg -\et

3MaPl -\en

3FePl -\enast

-\tast

-\taen

-\taenast

We can see that the "elsewhere" column has the fullest forms, beginning
with a k (2nd person) or t (third person) that is deleted in most post-α variants.
The full forms are quite similar to the corresponding independent pronouns,
e.g. 2MaSg kseyy. The 3FeSg form -\taet might be analysed as consisting of
3rd person -t- and FeSg -aet (the latter also appears as the end of the 2FePl and
3FePl clitics).
The 3FeSg, 3MaPl, and 3FePl allomorphs that follow stem-final α are best
taken as underlyingly V-initial, e.g. 3MaPl Men/. One could even argue that
the underlying initial V is /as/ rather than /e/, since the sequence /a + as/ is
realized as e in some verb-suffix combinations by VV-Contraction (§3.2.3.3).
The clitic vowel is counted, as is the preceding V, in Default Accentuation.
Example: Ί-rrsbba 'he raised (a child)', but i-rrabbe-\n 'he raised them-Ma',
whose surface penultimate accent is regular if Default Accentuation applies to
/i-3rr3bba-\en/. By contrast, in l-qri-\kmaet 'he killed you-Fe' the clitic does
not seem to begin in a V, though it forces the preceding /aJ to shift to i.

A few more examples follow. With the clitic on a preverbal particle:
a-\kaey i-wat 'he will hit you-MaSg' (Future ad reduces to a- before clitics).
After a verb ending in a, such asl-qra 'he killed' (PerfP), we getl-qriAm 'he
killed you-FeSg', andl-qre-\n 'he killed them-Ma'. With a stem-final C, we
have examples like l-nhaeyAtasn 'he saw them-MaPl' (PerfP). With stem-final
u, my data consistently show the longer forms from the right-hand column of
(668), as in i-t-irdu-\kaimaet 'he believes you-FePl' (LoImpfP). When the
stem-final is i, I recorded both contracted and long forms: i-s-imtalli-\kasy =
i-s-untalliAk 'he confuses you-MaSg' (LoImpfP). In i-s-lmt9lli-\k and other
forms, note the default word accent (i.e. on the antepenult); while the stem-
final i arguably represents a contraction, it does not count as two syllables for
purposes of Default Accentuation.
The 3MaSg form is somewhat more complex (669).