A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

690 13 Clausal subordination

has been trimmed slightely over time as iket comes to function as a kind of

clause-initial particle. The accent iket in 'have just' function (851) appears to

be a secondary phrasal accent.

13.6.7 'no longer'

In T-ka, clause-initial ba-\0-s, literally '(it) was lost to him' (cf. 0-aeba 'it

is/was lost', §7.3.2.16) means 'no longer' (852.a). A variant uba--s is also in

common use in T-ka (852.b); the u is reminiscent of ü-mar (Neg plus Fut) for

expected #ad mar in this dialect, and suggests a (perhaps historically

secondary) association with the Neg morpheme. In K-d, which has

0-aeba-\0-s alongside truncated ba-\0-s, the sense appears to be slightly

different (852.c). All of these combinations are rather frozen and might well be

reinterpreted as units (bds, etc.). Since there is no actual Neg morpheme, the

clause following ba-\0-s has verbs in positive form, either LoImpfP or Resit

depending on the semantics of the verb.

(852) a. ba-\0-s-\d i-mdl

be.lost.PerfP-\Dat-3Sg-\Centrip 3MaSgS-come.LoImpfP

'He will not come again.' = 'He no longer comes.'

b. uba-\0-s t-aksud-aed

be.lost.PerfP-\Dat-3Sg 2S-fear.Reslt-2SgS

[feel Vrazzej]

[on Sg-livestock]

'You-Sg are no longer afraid for the livestock.'

c. 0-aeba-\0-s-\d

3MaSgS-be.lost.PerfP-\Dat-3Sg-\Centrip

i-mdl

3MaSgS-come.LoImpfP

'He won't be coming at this point' (=I've given up on him

coming) [K-d]

d. ba-\0-s abdad-asn

be.lost.PerfP-\Dat-3Sg stand.Reslt-3MaPl

[fasl t-ae-hanin-t]

[on Fe-Sg-pity-FeSg]

'they-Ma no longer stand (=act) on the basis of mercy.' [K]

A similar sense (e.g. 'he ceased coming') can be expressed using one of

the 'cease' constructions in §13.5, above.