A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

3.4 Ablaut 117

3.4.5.2 First postconsonantal V ("pel")

Perhaps the most unusual targeting is that in (88.a). The first postconsonantal

V is the V that comes after the -t- prefix of the long imperfectives of heavy

(and some light) verb classes, and absent this -t- after the first C position (C or

CC cluster) of the stem itself. Examples are Resit verbs in (89) and LoImpfP

verbs in (90).

(89) First Postconsonantal Vowel (Resit Verbs)

gloss PerfP Reslt formatives

'get' -ajraew- -ajraw- χ-pcl, χ-pcl

'be enough' -ajdaeh- -ajdaeh- X-pcl

'hit' -swaet- -awcit- χ-pcl, χ-pcl

(90) First Postconsonantal Vowel (LoImpfP Verbs)

gloss Shlmpf LoImpfP formatives

'get' -ajraw- -jarraew- χ-pcl, χ-pcl

'vomit' -aebs -bdss χ-pcl, χ-pcl

'be tamed' -akufad- -t-lkufud- χ-pcl, χ-pcl

'dish out' -ajsm- -t-ijam- χ-pcl, χ-pcl

There is a subtle difference between the Resit and LoImpfP patterns. The

Resit always respects the shape of the PerfP, the most basic form of the

perfective system. The χ-pcl and χ-pcl formatives therefore follow a CC

cluster in verbs like 'get' and 'be enough'. In the long imperfectives, on the

other hand, there is always a V after the first C of the stem, or (if present) after

the -t- prefix. This means that the input to some of the long imperfectives must

be reconfigured (§3.4.1.5, above) from the usual shape seen in the perfectives

and short imperfectives. For example, -vjrvw- 'get' is reconfigured as -jvrvw-,

and -vbsi> 'vomit' as -bvsu-, in order for the ablaut formatives to apply

properly as they are formulated here. For light stems like these, one could also

consider a templatic model for the long imperfectives, which might obviate

this problem. However, the heavy stems are easily generated by taking the

Shlmpf as the input to LoImpfP ablaut.

For the most part, χ-pcl and χ-pcl target the same vowel, to the point

where one might consider merging them into a single formative. However,

cases like the Resit of 'be enough' in (89) show that χ-pcl can occur in the

absence of χ-pcl, in connection with adjectival verbs as illustrated here, but

also in definite relative clauses where χ-pcl is erased. See just below on

"jurisdictional" issues between "first postconsonantal V" and "V of final

syllable of stem."