A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

4.1 Noun morphology 171

b. feminine

t-e-daewasn-t t-i-daewaen-en 'mat'

If the Sg stem is V-final, an apparently epenthetic consonant w or t is
inserted to make the suffix pronounceable without contracting the vowels.
Most V-final masculines take t instead of w, so the effect is that V-final nouns
take a MaPl suffix allomorph -taen. A few examples are given in (145.a). There
are, however, a few V-final masculines that take final w before -aen (145.b). I
take the w as an extension of the stem rather than as the initial segment of a
suffixal allomorph. Some additional examples of w, accompanied by a shift in
the preceding V, are given in §4.1.2.8, below. There are also many cases where
a C-final masculine adds both a full V and a w before the PI suffix (§4.1.2.10).
In two cases the T-ka dialect has a y instead of w (145.c).

(145) Plural Suffixes after V-final Masculine Noun Stems

singular plural

a. with -taen (productive)

ά-dwanni

se-daqki

mataji

e-kaede

ae-kado

i-dwanni-tasn

i-daqki-taen

mataji-taen

i-kaede-taen

i-kado-taen

gloss

'talk'

'strong donkey'

'peanuts'

'collecting'

'Kaado man'

rain

'great-grandson'

b. with w (near-complete list of exx. with no other stem change)

e-raese i-raesew-aen 'grain bits'

ά-rsansi i-vsansiw-sen 'shank, shin'

ά-haeya i-haeyaw-aen 'grandson'

[PI also i-haeya-taen]

ά-janna i-jannaw-aen

ά-gaeya (A-grm) i-gseyaw-aen

[T-ka: Sg ά-jaeya, PI i-jaeya-taen]

e-kaede i-kaedew-aen 'oven stone'

a-ssnna i-sannaw-asn 'sky' (usually PI)

c. MaPl ...y-aen (all known examples)

3-lidda i-Iidday-aen (T-ka) 'saliva'

[for K-d: ae-lidda, PI i-fiddaw-aen]

a-kramma i-krammay-aen (T-ka) 'small piece'

[A-grm: a-karamma, PI i-karamm-an]