A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

472 5 Verbal derivation

stem (with present or past time reference), while the transitive use is often

expressed in the PerfP or LoImpfP depending on its time reference. For such

ambi-valent verbs see §9.1.3.

In mediopassive sense, -m- or -n- occur chiefly with light underived stems

that have simple shapes like -vCCvC- and -uCu-.

-n- and -m- also function as allomorphs of the Reciprocal prefix (whose

fuller form is -nvm-). The short variant -n- and -m- is usual before heavy verb

stems. With such heavy verbs, the sense of -n- and -m- is quite regularly

reciprocal, though there are a few attested cases that could be taken as

mediopassive. See §8.4, below, for the examples.

The choice between -m- and -n- is phonologically determined (482). For

-nvy-, see below.

(482) Mediopassive Prefix

-n- if stem contains a labial C {m b f}, e.g.-n-vkmvm- 'be squeezed',

-n-vbdi> 'be dislocated'

-m- otherwise, e.g.(Imprt) -m-vrtvy- 'become mixed', -m-vrwvy- 'be

kneaded'

A w in the stem does not count as a "labial" for this purpose and is

compatible with -m- prefixes, hence -m-vrwvy- 'be mixed' (PerfP

-amm-arwaey-).

The -n-/-m- rule must be qualified, since if a prefixal η is clustered with a

following b or f (but not m), it undergoes the regular local assimilation and

we get phonetic [mb]. Example: Imprt n-sbabdway 'fall over' (with n- rather

than m- to dissimilate at a distance from b), but PerfP -aem-bselaedwaey-

(where the /n/ is now clustered with the b and cannot avoid Nasal

Assimilation). By contrast, a prefixal m does not assimilate to a following

alveolar, hence -Eem-talae-t 'be stacked (on top of each other)'. Leaving low-

level Nasal Assimilation aside, I take -m- to be the basic form of the

Mediopassive prefix, while -n- is dissimilatory (at a distance).

There is one case with (frozen) allomorph -nvy-, probably no longer

segmentable synchronically. This is (T-ka) -nvyufu- 'be compared (to

determine which is best)' with PerfP -senyafa- and Imprt nayuf. It is

historically related to (PerfP) -ofa- 'surpass, be better than' (MGT 1.56),

though a segmentation -nvy-ufu- is probably unjustified for modern-day

speakers. The labial f accounts for the dissimulated prefixal η (instead of m),

but the prefixal y is synchronically isolated. The causative has PerfP

-ses-naeyafa- 'compare (things, to determine the best)' (historically

*-s-vny-ufi>). A similarly frozen y-extension of Instrumental derivational

prefix -s- to -svy- (a-saeyar 'key', cf. -uru- 'open') is mentioned in §8.9. For a

parallel w-extension, see the uncommon causative -svw- instead of -s-

(§8.1.1), as well as the Passive alternation of -t- and -tvw-.