A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

154 3 Phonology

In (131), χ-pcl Erasure is observed in a prepositional relative (compare
LoImpfP -tdtt 'eat'). Here the initial demonstrative w-d is followed by the
cliticized preposition. The intervening cliticized preposition has no effect on
(i.e., does not block) χ-pcl Erasure.

(131) aeqqlm-aeY dasr "'ae-dasgg [w-aAdser an-tsett]

sit.Reslt-lSgS in Sg-place [Ma-Sg.Dem-\in lPlS-eat.LoImpfP]

Ί am sitting in the place where we eat.' [K-d]

In K-d dialect, I have observed χ-pcl Erasure in verbs following Past ksela
(§9.6.4), thus kasla assaen-asr Ί knew, used to know', with short accented as,
from Resit stem -assdn-. See also (645.a,c) in §9.6.4 from the same K-d
speaker, again with kasla. The dialectology of this requires further study.

3.5.3.2 Rightward Accent Shift

The LoImpfP also undergoes an accentual shift. In ordinary contexts it has an
accent formative χ-pcl that accents the first postconsonantal V (in trisyllabic
or longer stems, this accent is inaudible since it is overridden by default
accents). Thus LoImpfP -bdddaed- 'get up' and -tdtt- 'eat' have audible
accents, but LoImpfP -t-idubun- 'marry' (for underlying /-t-ldubun-/) has an
underlying grammatical accent that is made redundant by Default
Accentuation, and if a suffix is added the underlying grammatical accent is
overridden since a default accent occurs farther to the right: 3MaPl
t-idübun-aen. In definite relative clauses, if there is no audible subject
pronominal prefix (i.e. for all subject categories except 1P1 and 3MaSg), the
grammatical accent shifts one syllable to the right (onto a subject suffix if
necessary). Thus from LoImpfP -bdddaed- 'stand up' we get definite subject
relative t-ά 0-baeddasd-aet 'she who stands' with a FeSg participle, and from
LoImpfP -tdtt- 'eat' we get definite non-subject relative w-i taett-asr 'these
that I eat'.

(132) Rightward Accent Shift (LoImpfP in Definite Relative)

In a definite relative clause, if the inflected verb or participle has

no audible (and potentially syllabic) pronominal subject prefix, a

grammatical accent due to ablaut feature χ-pc 1 on the first syllable

of the LoImpfP stem is shifted one syllable to the right,

[see below for χ-Erasure in some 3FeSg subject forms]

Since the most common demonstratives heading definite relatives are
(sometimes) accented (e.g. MaSg w-d 'this') when uttered in isolation, one
might argue that Rightward Accent Shift is a kind of clash avoidance rule.
This would account for the fact that Rightward Accent Shift is blocked by the