A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

174 4 Nominal and pronominal morphology

c. verbal nouns in final aw with PI iw-

a-s-allawlaw

a-mansaw

a-lawlaw

a-s-adaw

i-mansiw-asn

i-lawliw-asn

i-s-adiw-asn

i-s-allawliw-a;n

'eating supper'

'towering'

'organizing'

'raving'

Although the common nouns (147.a) and the VblN's (147.b) both end in
phonetic [i], I take the ending to be III in the former case and to be /ay/ in the
latter case. This is based on the allomorphy of the lSg possessor suffix, as seen
in as-bori-nin 'my stick' and α-daqkay-in 'my bumping' (though for the latter
α-daqki-nin is also possible). For more on this general issue see §3.1.2.5. For i
replacing a before the stem-final y (or any other C) in the PI, see §4.1.2.12,
below. Actually, I can hear no difference between ay and iy before a V, but the
shift a to i before other stem-final C's is clear.
In (147.c) we have verbal nouns in aw (corresponding to inflected PerfP
...asw). These forms are parallel to those in ay in (147.b), so the Sg frequently
takes a postconsonantal allomorph of the lSg possessor suffix (a-mansaw-in
'my ...'). Here the shift a to i in the PI is clearly audible.
A few C-final nouns lacking a vocalic prefix show MaPl -taen instead of
-aen. For C-final nouns, -taen is associated with accent on the final stem
syllable (not counting any intervening epenthetic schwa). Some of the nouns in
question are monosyllabic or bisyllabic nouns borrowed from Songhay; the
others are monosyllabic VblN's that are infrequently pluralized. A stem-final
geminated PP can be degeminated before the -t- (one case each of ww, yy, and
kk, none involving VblN's). If the CC cluster is not reduced to C, an a (rarely
as) may appear. The monosyllabic examples are in (148).

(148) Plural -taen after Unprefixed C-final Monosyllable

singular plural gloss

a. monosyllabic DCC verbal nouns

idhι ι ldha-taen

ijj Ijja-tasn

ayy ayya-tasn

Izj izja-taen

'folding'

'stretch to look'

'leaving'

'being still'

b. aCC noun (not VblN)

άηγ aqra-tasn

[Sg also αητ]

'palate'

c. other (C)VCC nouns (accented)

bseww baew-tasn

hoyy hoy-taen

11ns llns-taen

'monitor lizard' (<Son)

'green sauce' (<Son)

'red dye'