A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)

8.6 Verbal nouns 519

(549) Examples of Regular Verbal Nouns for -u(C)CvC- Stems

Imprt gloss Sg VblN PI VblN

a. away 'take' dggay aggay-aen

b. abar 'take handful' Ibbur "ibbur-aen

c. arsay '(animal) die' nrssy Tvssy-asn

d. ajsj 'go far' ijaj Ijaj-asn

Unproductive VblN patterns for -u(C)CvC- stems are given in (550). In

some cases they coexist (at least dialectally) with the regular patterns.

Feminine VblN's based directly on the regular masculine VblN's, e.g. t:izzur-t

'suffering' for Imprt azar, are not included in (550).

(550) Alternative Verbal Noun Schemata for -u(C)CvC-

Imprt gloss Sg VblN PI VblN

a. abar 'grab handful' t-lbra t-lbraw-en

ajaer 'surpass' t-ljra (R) —

azar 'suffer' t-lzra —

b. adsn r 'need' addun (A-grm) —

c. araj 'contribute' t-irji-t-t t-lrji-t-en

8.6.1.3 Verbal nouns of -v(C)CvC- and -u(C)CuC- verbs

Light verbs with medial full V, i.e.-vC(C)uC- or -UC(C)DC-, mostly have
adjective-like meaning, though there are also some non-adjectival verbs with
glosses like 'pray' and 'believe' (§7.3.1.9). The Imprt is often !C(C)aC or
uC(C)aC. However, there is competition between Imprt üCaC (with a single
medial C and with u rather than i) and aCuC (the latter matching the PerfP).
The most common VblN's are feminines with Fe prefix t- and (in the
singular) FeSg suffix -t, flanking the same -iC(C)aC- or -uC(C)aC- stem.
Examples are t-üsrak-k 'sneezing' (Imprt usraj), t-lstak-k 'emptiness' (Imprt
Istak), t-izal-t 'wrestling' (Imprt izal), and t-üdaq-q 'watching for' (Imprt
udar). Rarely, the bare stem is used as a masculine Vbln: ukmas 'being
scratched'.
There are some cases of t-aCuC-t for verbs that have PerfP -aCuC-, e.g.
t-adub-t (no PI elicitable), alongside t-üdab-t 'dripping' with PI t-udab-en