A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

4.1 Noun morphology 199

I am skeptical of this way of deriving e.g. elr-αη, in the absence of any

overt sign of PI ablaut melody in the stem itself. However, such cases are near

the borderline between -an due to VV-Contraction (this section) and -an due

to application of ablaut to a stem-suffix combination (§4.1.2.14).

In (174), above, we have an e or ae in the PI stem that can be taken as

evidence of the non-application of PI <H L> melody. In (175), below, we have

cases that involve the same Syncope and (if applicable) Degemination as in

(174). However, in (175) the stem V is already high {i u} in the Sg, so there is

no way to tell whether an Η melodic component is at work in the PI.

(175) Non-Ablaut -an and -en Plurals with High Vowel in Singular and

Plural Stems

singular plural gloss

a. feminine, initial i

t-ijam-t t-ljm-en 'nose-ring'

t-lkas-t t-lks-en 'piece of fabric'

b. feminine, initial i, with Degemination

t-lllik-k t-ilk-en 'louse'

[Sg also t-ilik-k]

t:iS3m-t t-lsm-en 'foul water'

c. masculine, initial u

ursn ύτη-αη 'ornaments'

[used chiefly in PI]

The PI accent in üm-αη (175.c) is the effect of Lexical Accent Erasure.
However, for many speakers the Sg ursn is unelicitable, so ύτη-αη (arguably
öm-αη) is the only form in use, and can be learned as such without reference
to a derivation.
In (176) I show a few special cases of MaPl -an associated with an
additional stem-final C (176.a), or in a stem used only in the plural (176.b).
The accent shift in i-hoh-αη suggests an affiliation with the stems in (174.d),
above. This, combined with the absence of PI melody, points to an
underlying PI representation /i-hohV-aen/ with some stem-final V (that counts
as a syllable in Default Accentuation).

(176) Minor Types with -an

singular plural gloss

a. extra stem-final C in plural

£e-ho i-hoh-αη 'smoke'