A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

638 12 Extraction processes

3ttar-mast-\a-s

look.for.Imprt-2FePlS-\Dat-3Sg

[ereAha-kmset i-ffaed-sn

[whoever-\Dat-2FePl 3MaSgS-lend.Reslt-Partpl.MaSg

[a 0-la nt-3-s-3rn3s-t]]

[Dem 3FeSg-have Fe-Sg-Instr-veil-FeSg]]

'You-FePl go seek for her someone who will lend you a little

veiled garment.' [K] (for 'a little' see (242.a-d) in §5.1.1.8)

g. waer le-γ [ere-\hl-\t

Neg have.PerfN-lSgS [whoever-\lSgDat-\3MaSgO

i-z-ansae-n]

3MaSgS-Caus-buy.PerfP-Partpl.MaSg]

Ί don't have anyone to (=who would) buy it for me.' [K]

h. waer 0-le-d [ere-\ha-m-\0dd

Neg 2S-have.PerfN-2SgS [whoever-\Dat-2FeSg-\Centrip

i-ktaer-aen Iddid]

3MaSgS-bring.water.Reslt-Partpl.MaSg waterskin]

'You-Sg don't have anyone who has brought back the

waterskin (from the well) for you-FeSg.' [K]

These examples show that ere relatives are treated as "definite" relatives

with respect to ablaut modifications on the verb. For example, Resit participle

i-waet-aen (736.b) and LoImpfP participle i-taettae-n (736.c) show the effects of

χ-pcl Erasure (130), compare the full (=long) vowel α in both Resit i-wat 'he

has already hit' and LoImpfP i-tdtt 'he is eating'.

In (737), ere is followed by a demonstrative, making it a canonical definite

relative.

(737) aekk ere

go.to.Imprt whoever

[w-a-\daer 0-jasr-asd asttasma] ras

[Ma-Dem.Sg-\in 2S-throw.PerfP-2SgS hope] only

'Go to someone on whom you have placed (your) hopes.' [K]

12.1.6.2 Indefinite human (ι, t-i)

For indefinite human cases, the head is masculine ι or feminine t-1 (with no

number marking), as in (738). In the case of subject relatives, grammatical

number (Sg, PI) is determined from the form of the participle.