A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

(Jeff_L) #1
688 13 Clausal subordination

13.6.4 'spend the day doing' (-huji>)

Perseverance in an activity over time can be expressed using an intrinsically

durative verb such as -huju- 'spend the (mid-)day' (847). The complement,

here 'they are eating it', requires a verb compatible with duration (here

LoImpfP).

(847) ά-s-askso w-α η ukss

Sg-Instr-food Ma-Dem.Sg Poss remove.VblN

an [jatak 0-aezzar-aen-\da2r


Poss [hunger 3MaSgS-be.first.PerfP-Partpl.MaSg-\in

waer t-ahiji-n O-razzej-asn

Neg LoImpf-spend.day.LoImpfN-3MaPlS Pl-animal-MaPl

tattas-n-\t]

eat.LoImpfP-3MaPlS-\3MaSgO]

'Food for removing the first hunger in which the (livestock) animals

do not spend a long time eating it.'

13.6.5 'nearly' ('on the verge of, 'about to') and 'barely'

For T-ka and K-d, the adverb darihr (or daerov) 'nearly' is attested.

(848) a. darÜY ode-r


nearly fa'll.PerfP-lSgS

Ί nearly fell.' [T-ka]

b. dasr0r-\hl 0-aeba


nearIy-\lSgO 3MaSgS-be.lost.PerfP

Ί nearly died.' [K-d]

From the R informant I recorded a construction with invariant ehaeydaer

(which looks like a Sg noun but functions here as a particle) plus a PerfP

clause (849). When followed by an unaccented bisyllabic verb, phrasal accent

appears on the final syllable of ehaeydaer.

(849) a. ehaeydasY odas-n


nearly fall.PerfP-3MaPlS

'They-Ma nearly fell.' or 'They were on the verge of falling.'

b. eheeydaer od-asr

nearly fa'll.PerfP-lSgS

Ί nearly fell.' or Ί was on the verge of falling.'
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