A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

630 12 Extraction processes

b. w-ά

Ma-Dem.Sg

'what we get'

na-jaerraew

lPlS-get.LoImpfP

c. w-ά

Ma-Dem.Sg

'what he eats'

i-taett

3MaSgS-eat.LoImpfP

d. w-ά na-taett

Ma-Dem.Sg lPl-eat.LoImpfP

'what we eat'

[dialectally: w-ά n-taett]

It remains to account for the few forms that undergo χ-Erasure (i.e. loss of

ablaut accent). χ-Erasure (136) applies to verbs when Rightward Accent Shift

(132) has placed the accent on a stem-final deletable V, as this V is then

deleted or contracted (by VV-Contraction). The examples involve -CaCC- and

-t-lC(C)- (underlying /-CaCCA-/ and /-t-iC(C)i-/) LoImpfP stems, specifically

in the 3FeSg subject form, as in (720). The 3FeSg prefix is segmentally

unexpressed on the surface (Prefixal t-Deletion (35)), and the entire verb form

ends up being totally unaccented, resulting in a phrasal accent on the

demonstrative. Even with -tdtt- 'eat', χ-Erasure does not apply to 3MaSg or

1P1 forms whose prefix is segmentally nonzero, because they are not subject to

Rightward Accent Shift, as seen in (719.c-d) above.

(720) w-ά 0-taett

Fe-Dem.Sg.Sg 3FeSgS-eat.LoImpfP

'what she eats'

In the PerfP, PerfN, and Shlmpf, there is no difference between the form

of the inflected verb in ordinary clauses and in non-subject relatives. A PerfP

example is (721).

(721) kaeyy [1 awast-aer]

2MaSg [Dem hit.PerfP-lSgS]

'you-MaSg whom I hit'

Examples including preverbal particles are in (722). Future ad is replaced
by its non-clause-initial variant mar (or dialectal variant) (722.b).

(722) a. ae-habs [w-α war i-nhey]

Sg-man [Ma-Dem.Sg Neg 3MaSgS-see.PerfN]

'the man whom he did not see'