A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

13.5 Verbs with verbal noun complements 685

The transitive verb 'begin' is -s-vnti>, (Imprt s-aent, PerfP -sss-anta-). It

can take a VblN or similar nominal as complement. In (837.b) we see that the

logical object of the complement verb is expressed as (clitic) object of 'begin'.

(837) a. ά-janna i-ss-anta e-wet

Sg-rain 3MaSgS-Caus-begin Sg-hit.VblN

'Rain began to strike (=fall).' (R)

b. ass-ant-aeqAqaet kassan

Caus-begin-lSgS-\3FeSgO dislike[noun]

'I've begun to dislike her.'

13.5.3 'go (in order) to' (-vkki>)

Since -vkku- 'go to' is a transitive verb, it can take a simple VblN (without

preposition) as its complement. Often the pragmatic sense is 'go in order to'.

(838) 1-kka t-e-taete

3MaSgS-go.to.PerfP Fe-Sg-eat.VblN

'He went to eat.'

13.5.4 'be ashamed to' (-kvrukvd-)

-kvrukvd- 'be ashamed' can take a VblN complement. In (839), the VblN

ά-bru has a NP object expressed as a genitive.

(839) 0-aekrakasd a-laru η isam-annet

3MaSgS-be.ashamed.PerfP Sg-report.VblN Poss name-3SgPoss

'He was (too) ashamed to report (=give) his name.'

13.5.5 'do a lot' (-vkm>)

-vkni> 'do (well)' can be used with a VblN complement in the sense '(do) a

lot'.

(840) a. i-kann t-e-taete

3MaSgS-do.welI.LoImpfP Fe-Sg-eat.VblN

'He eats a lot.'