7.3 Verb classes and irregular verbs 379esw£el 'mark, brand'; A-grm PerfP -eswael- with e), and -OZYSBY- 'lie on one's
back' (VblN IZYSY).
The w-medial type 'go up' in (377) differs from the usual -DCVC- type
('tie') only in the perfectives and in the VblN. The gg for *ww in the VblN is
archaic (§3.1.1.7). In the perfectives, expected #-owaeC- surfaces as
-aewwaeC-, as the boundary between the rounded ο and the more or less
homorganic semivowel slides to the left, and what remains of ο dissimilates
slightly by lowering to ae (favored by the <L> perfective melody). Note that
the resulting ww does not follow the archaic pattern of hardening to gg. No
similar boundary sliding occurs after α in the short imperfectives or after i in
the long imperfectives. The 3MaSg subject PerfP in T-ka is therefore
0-swwaeC, with the usual surface 0- before stem-initial low V (§7.4.1.4,
§3.2.3.1). A T-ka example is 0-aewwa2y 'he conveyed'.
Other verbs of the w-medial subtype, cited in the PerfP, are -aewwaed-
'manage carefully' (VblN t:iwdi-t-t), -sewwasd- 'reach' (VblN dggad),
-sewwasY- 'keep back' (aggaY), -sewwael- 'guard' (dggal), and -aewwaey-
'take (convey)' (dggay).
Data showing the treatment of the initial vowel in the perfective of these
stems, in a wider range of dialects, are given in (378). Here I include Malian
Tawellemmett (W), which is outside of the scope of this grammar.(378) -uwvC- Stems in Various Dialectsdialect PerfP stem lSg PerfP 3MaSg PerfPa. with consistent as
T-ka -aewwaeC- aewwaeC-aeY 0-aewwasCb. with i or e in 3MaSg only, ae or a elsewhere
R, K-d -swwaeC- EewwaeC-aeY e-wwaeC
R -swwaeC- sewwseC-aeY e-wasC
Gao, Κ, I -awwaeC- awwaeC-aeY 1-wwaeC
Gao -awaeC- awaeC-asv 1-wwaeC
A-grm -awaeC- awaeC-aeY "i-waeCc. with consistent i or e
W, Gao, A-grm -ewaeC- ewasC-aeY 0-ewasCExcept for some dialects that may have been influenced by Tawellemmett,
the predominant pattern is actually (378.b), with either as or a as the usual
perfective initial. In the case of a, 3MaSg i- combines regularly to produce i
(Gao, Κ, I, A-grm). However, in this verb class only, 3MaSg i- combines with
initial ae to produce e in R and K-d. In W, some Gao dialects, and optionally in
A-grm, the e is an intrinsic part of the stem.