A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

212 4 Nominal and pronominal morphology

t-3-küsse-t-t t-l-kussa

t-ae-tahmi-t-t t-l-tuhma

t-3-tübbe-t-t t-i-tubba

t-3-zügge-t-t t-l-zugga

'whistling'

'suspecting'

'(a) whack' (VblN)

'punch'

[PI also t-l-zagga (A-grm)]

Note that the stem-final i in several Sg forms in (187.c) is treated as /i/
rather than as /ay/, so the PI ends in ...a.
With Sg stems of syllabic shape -CvCCVC-, where "V" is a short or long
vowel, the regular output of an unsuffixed ablaut plural has «a α» vowel
sequence (188.a-j). The medial CC cluster protects the short ν from being
syncopated, so the vocalic melody is well preserved on the surface. In at least
one case, a stem-initial CC has the same Syncope-blocking effect: This vocalic
sequence is also attested with Sg -CvCvC- stems, i.e. with two short V's
(188.k). However, except for A-grm, Sg -CVCDC- or -CvCvC- stems (except
-CaeCaC-) undergo Syncope and Accent Reattachment, where Syncope deletes
the schwa and reduces the stem vowel sequence to «α»; these cases are treated
separately in §4.1.2.22.

(188) Unsuffixed Plural Ablaut (C-Final Bisyllabic Stem, <o α» Sequence)

singular plural gloss

a. C-final, Sg vowels short-full, medial cluster, masculine

α-zaemboy i-zambay

a-baelbodI ι i-balbad

a-baerkot i-barkat

a-hakkum i-hakkam

a-hattin i-hattan

a-lakkin i-lakkan

a-lammuz (or ...oz) i-lammaz

a-maknud i-maknad

a-rassud (or ...od) i-rassad

a-z-almazII II i-z-almaz

'penis'

'cloth bag'

'stomach'

'tent'

'calabash'

'pot'

'Aristida grass'

'dwarf

'pus'

'throat'

b. feminine counterparts of (a)

t-a-dakkel-tι ι t-i-dakkal

t-a-badder-t t-i-bsddar

t-a-dakkel-t t-i-dakkal

t-a-fassor-t t-i-fassor

t-a-gagger-t t-i-gaggar

t-a-rabber-t t-i-rabbar

t-a-hanjam-t t-i-hanjam

t-a-jarjis-t t-i-jarjas

t-a-jayyes-t t-i-jayyas

'traveler's gift'

'handful'

'Fagonia bush'

'insult'

'kick'

'Tetrapogon grass'

'shoulder blade'

'vaccination'

'handful'