A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

424 7 Verbal morphology

7.3.2.12 'be in' (y/h)

The verb -vhu-, most often reduced to -hu-, means 'be in' and requires a

locational complement as direct object: i-ha biemseko 'he is in Bamako'. The

complement may denote a place or a container. There are also some abstract

uses similar to English 'be in a quandary'.

This verb occurs only in the perfective system, in T-ka and most other

dialects checked. Only in A-grm did I find imperfectives like Imprt Ihi and

LoImpfP -t-lhi- (such forms are more common in Niger Tamashek.)

In positive main clauses, the verb is normally in Resit form -ha- or -shd-

with accented ά in my Timbuktu-area data. The schwa is usually absent, as is

the case with -vlu- 'have' (§7.3.2.13, below). When negated, -vhi> shows up

as PerfN -ha- or -sha-, as in war i-ha 'he is not in ...'. Time reference is

generally present or timeless; past time reference can be specified by

preposing Past particle kaeld. The PerfP paradigm is in (426). For many

speakers, the prefix t- is systematically dropped, as usual before C-initial

verbs, so 1P1 n- and 3MaSg i- are the only audible subject prefixes.

(426) PerfP of 'be in'

Since the verb is transitive, combinations with 3rd person pronominal

object clitic are common: t-ah-\e "t-a-jalla '(the) bread is in it (e.g. sack)'. In

definite relative clauses, the usual dropping of the χ-pcl (lengthening)

formative of the Resit is observed. This has an audible effect in the forms with

nonfinal ά in (426), which show up with shortened (but still underlyingly

accented) ae. (427) has 3MaPl ahse-n, though in this example the location of

the surface accent is actually attributable to phrasal accent before an

unaccented bisyllabic noun.

(427) t-a-hattin-t t-ά ahae-n O-latt-asn

box Fe-Sg.Dem be.in.Reslt-3MaPlS Pl-leaf-MaPl

'the box which the leaves are in'

2MaPl

2FePl

3MaSg

3FeSg

3MaPl

3FePl

ISg

1P1

2Sg

he-r

n-ahd

0-he-d, t-ahed

0-hci-m, t-aha-m

0-hd-maet, t-sha-mast

1-ha

0-ha, t-aha

ha-n

ha-nset

In A-grm, the verb can also be used in PerfP form -aha- with directional
clitics in the sense 'come (=originate) from (a place)', i.e. while in a current