A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

7.3 Verb classes and irregular verbs 351

In (353.d), the schwa resulting from VV-Contraction triggers Short-V
Harmony, changing /as/ to a in the preceding syllable. This fails to happen in
(353.c), showing that lSg -aer has a "real" ae, not a /a/ that has shifted to ae
before the BLC v. Short-V Harmony also applies in case (353.b) where the a
represents hi directly.
In T-ka and certain other dialects, the regular LoImpfP is /-PQQQA-/. The
final IAI is another deletable, underspecified stem-final V, this time low. Its
manifestations are parallel to those of /i/ in (353). A summary is in (354). In
some eastern dialects, instead of /A/ we can get III or an overt full V (a or u) in
the LoImpfP, see below.

(354) Manifestations of /A/ (T-ka)

As with III, IAI is always counted for purposes of identifying the
antepenult in Default Accentuation. There is no difference between (353.c) and
(353.d) since /aeae/ contracts to ae in both cases, and the preceding syllable
already has a harmonic ae.
MAN-stem paradigms for two ah verbs are given in (355). Shlmpf (and
Imprt) are shown in the word-final form. For resyllabification in the short
imperfective system of 'go', see discussion below.

(355) Examples of aJi Subclass of -vCCu- Verbs (MAN Stems)

a. word-final (no subject suffix):

b. before C-initial subject suffix:

c. VV-Contraction with lSg subject /-aer/:

d. VV-Contraction with other /-aeC/ subject suffix:

zero

£e

O-aer.

C)...ae-C.

'vomit' 'go'

a. perfective system

PerfP -absa-

Reslt -absd-

PerfN -absa-

-ajla-

-ajld-

-ajla-

b. short imperfective system

Shlmpf -aebs

Imprt aebs

-ajal (</-<eCCi -/)

ajal (</aeCCi/)

[dialectally agal, agal, aglu]

c. long imperfective system

LoImpfP -bass-

LoImpfN -bass-

Prohib -baess-

-jdll- (</-CaCCA-/)

-jail- (</-CaCCi-/)

-jaell- (</-CaeCCA-/)