A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali) Volume 748 () || 10.3 Pronominal clitics

10.3 Pronominal clitics 603

c. 9kte-q-\q-\lddremember.PerfP-1 SgS-\3MaSgO-\CentripΊ remembered him.' [R]

The verb -mvndu- means 'be completed'. With the Centripetal, it canmean 'come to completion' in an accretive sense referring to the collection of asum or money, or a trip that ends by returning 'here'. With the Centrifugal itcan mean, in a diminutional sense, '(e.g. sugar) be used up'.

10.3 Pronominal clitics

10.3.1 Object clitics

Pronominal object clitics can follow a simple transitive verb. If the verb ispreceded by a preverbal particle (Neg, Put, Past), a demonstrative head of arelative clause (e.g. MaSg w-ά), or Focus morpheme a, the clitic follows thefirst such item.

The forms of pronominal clitics show some allomorphic variation, chieflydepending on postvocalic versus postconsonantal position. I will describe theT-ka forms, then (at the end of the section) I will detail dialectal variation.

The 1st person object clitics are identical to the corresponding dativeclitics. The T-ka forms are in (667). For the syntactic and phonologicaldistribution of the allomorphs, and for non-T-ka variants, see the discussion ofdative clitics in §10.3.2, below.

(667) First Person Object clitics (T-ka)

person preverbal postverbalafter V or C after {u ij after C after α

ISg -\hi -\ha-hi -\a-hi -\0-hi1P1 Aha-naer -\ha-nsev -\a-nasr -\0-nasY

The full forms are used after verbs ending in a high V. In the rightmostcolumn, e.g. -\hi probably derives from contraction of -\a-hi with the stem-final a. However, the accent is on the word-antepenult, showing that DefaultAccentuation applies to the output of VV-Contraction here: i-s-alha 'he makesweep' (LoImpfP), with ISg object i-s-alha-\hi 'he makes me weep'.

Further examples: i-t-irdu-\ha-hi and ...-\ha-naev 'he believes me/us',i-t-iwi-\ha-hi 'he is bom for me', wserAhl i-rjva and ...-\h3-naer) 'he didn'tkill me/us', i-waet-\a-hi and ...Aa-naer 'he hit me/us', and "i-rjYQ-\0-hi andl-rjra-\0-naeY/ 'he killed me/us'.

The 2nd and 3rd person object clitics for T-ka (confirmed for K-d),excluding 3MaSg (on which see below), are given in (668).

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604 10 Clitics

(668) Second and Third Person Object Clitics (T-ka, K-d)

person postverbal after α elsewhere(occasionally after i)

2MaSg (i)-\k Akasy2FeSg (i)-\m -\kaem2MaPl (i)Awaen Akaewaen2FePl (i)Akmaet Akiemset3FeSg -\et -\taet3MaPl Aen -\taen3FePl Aenaet -\tsenset

We can see that the "elsewhere" column has the fullest forms, beginningwith a k (2nd person) or t (third person) that is deleted in most post-α variants.The full forms are quite similar to the corresponding independent pronouns,e.g. 2MaSg kaeyy. The SFeSg form -\taet might be analysed as consisting of3rd person -t- and FeSg -aet (the latter also appears as the end of the 2FePl and3FePl clitics).

The 3FeSg, 3MaPl, and 3FePl allomorphs that follow stem-final α are besttaken as underlyingly V-initial, e.g. 3MaPl Men/. One could even argue thatthe underlying initial V is l&l rather than /e/, since the sequence /a + se/ isrealized as e in some verb-suffix combinations by VV-Contraction (§3.2.3.3).The clitic vowel is counted, as is the preceding V, in Default Accentuation.Example: 1-rrabba 'he raised (a child)', but i-rrabbeAn 'he raised them-Ma',whose surface penultimate accent is regular if Default Accentuation applies to/i-arrgbbaAen/. By contrast, in 1-rjriAkmaet 'he killed you-Fe' the clitic doesnot seem to begin in a V, though it forces the preceding Id to shift to i.

A few more examples follow. With the clitic on a preverbal particle:aAksey i-w3t 'he will hit you-MaSg' (Future ad reduces to a- before clitics).After a verb ending in a, such asl-rpra 'he killed' (PerfP), we getl-rjYiAm 'hekilled you-FeSg', andl-rjreAn 'he killed them-Ma'. With a stem-final C, wehave examples like 1-nhaeyAtaen 'he saw them-MaPl' (PerfP). With stem-finalu, my data consistently show the longer forms from the right-hand column of(668), as in i-t-irduAkasmaet 'he believes you-FePl' (LoImpfP). When thestem-final is i, I recorded both contracted and long forms: i-s-imtMliAkaey =i-s-lmtalliAk 'he confuses you-MaSg' (LoImpfP). In i-s-lmtslliAk and otherforms, note the default word accent (i.e. on the antepenult); while the stem-final i arguably represents a contraction, it does not count as two syllables forpurposes of Default Accentuation.

The 3MaSg form is somewhat more complex (669).




(669) SMaSg Object Clitics (T-ka)

allomorph distribution

-\e after stem-final α of verb;after verb-stem-fmal C(C) due to Stem-Final i/A-

Deletion(§3.1.2.4)-\tt intervocalic (including after Future a-);

phrase-final after V-\t after Negative waer before V-initial verb;

phrase-final after single C;after Future a- or Focus a before C-initial verb;after clitic-final single C (e.g. cliticized preposition)

-\3tt after preverbal C-final focalized word, before V-\9t after preverbal C-final focalized word, before C

The major cut here is between -\e and the consonantal forms. The latterhave a basic form Mtt/ (see below for a possible extra V). Schwa-Epenthesisaccounts for the variants with 3. After Schwa-Epenthesis, the geminate issimplified to t if adjacent to a C on either side.

The consonantal allomorphs behave as though they had a vowel (seebelow for dialectal -\ti), for purposes of Default Accentuation. Thus9nhaey-aeq-\q Ί saw him', accented on the word penult, as though from/3nhaey-aeY-tV/. For T-ka, however, the lost V does not appear overtly in anycontext. If necessary, Schwa-Epenthesis can insert schwa before the /t/ whenthe latter is sandwiched between other C's, as in ... s-\3t t-sqqaen-aed '... bywhich you built it'.

The e of the first column is, one presumes, in some sense the "same" e asthat resulting from contraction of stem-final α with the /ae/ of the other 3rdperson object clitics. Taking this (and the preceding observation about accent)to a logical conclusion, one could posit a representation /tae/ for the 3MaSgobject clitic. When the initial t of 3rd person object clitics is deleted after anα-final verb, the remaining /ae/ contracts with the stem-final /a/ in the sameway seen above. However, as a practical matter I will hyphenate the 3MaSgobject combinations as ...Ae.

Examples of -\e are PerfP t-arjrAe 'she killed him' (<ί-3ηγα), LoImpfPi-solh-\e 'he made him weep' (<-salha-), LoImpfP i-tatt-\e 'he eats it' (<-tatt-for/-tattA-/), Imprt s-smm-sswAe 'give him another drink!' (<s-3mm-3S3wfor/s-3mm-3swi/), Imprt ar-\e Open-Sg it!' (<ar for /an/). Examples ofvariants containing t are 0-ojaey-\t 'he tied him', a-\tt 3W3t-naet 'they-FePlwill hit him', i-tlrru-\tt 'he inherits it'.

Initial /t/ or /k/ in a clitic is subject to assimilation to a preceding stop (orv, which hardens to a stop). The conversions are shown in (670). Theassimilations affecting /t/ in 3rd person clitics are identical to those affecting



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the boundary between noun stem and FeSg suffix -t, see (30) and (31) in§3.2.1.1.

(670) Assimilations

affecting clitic-initial /t/ affecting clitic-initial /k/

k-\t -> k-\kj-\t -> k-\k j-\k -+ k-\kY-\t —> q-\q r-\k —> q-\qd-\t -> t-\td-\t -> t-\t

ISg subject suffix -aer and 2Sg subject suffix -aed are commonly followedby object clitics. Note in particular that 3MaSg /-t/ undergoes theseassimilations, so the alveolar articulation is not always expressed on thesurface. For example, /9nhaey-aer-\t/ is realized as 9nhsey-aeq-\q Ί saw him',cf. 9nhaey-33q-\qaen Ί saw them-MaPl' and anhaey-aeqAqsey Ί saw you-MaSg'.

Independent pronouns can be added at the end of the clause, in addition toan object clitic, but they generally function as clarifying or emphatic elements.I regard them as post-clausal. In the available examples, the post-clausalclarifying elements form a conjunction of the type 'X and/with Y' (includingpreposition 3d 'and/with). The object clitic may subsume the two, as in Ί sawyou-Pl, you-Sg and him', or it may coindex only the first conjunct, as in Ί sawyou-Sg, you-Sg with him'.

(671) a. i-nhaey-\a-naeY nsekk sd kaeyy3MaSgS-see.PerfP-\O-lPl ISg with 2MaSg'He saw us, me and you-MaSg'.

b. i-nhsey-\a-hi naskk3MaSgS-see.PerfP-\O-lSg ISgd "a-m-idi-ninwith Sg-Agent-be, with-ISgPoss'He saw me, me with my friend.'

The above data for T-ka and K-d require modification for some otherdialects. For R, the differences are summarized in (672).




(672) R Dialectal Features

a. 3MaSg clitic often -\ti after a C and -\tti after a V, either phrase-finally or before word beginning in a C.

b. Stem-final α of verb contracts with V of both 2nd and 3rd personobject clitics to give uniform i (not e).

c. After high V, the ISg and 1P1 clitics (object = dative) require ahomorganic semivowel rather than h (e.g. ...uw-\a-hi versusT-ka ...u-\ha-hi).

Speakers of R dialect therefore often say 1-wastAti 'he hit him' for T-ka1-wast At, (future) a-\tfi t-aerjr 'she will kill him' for T-ka aAt t-as-rjr, t-3rjY-\i'she killed him' for T-ka t-9rjv-\e, andl-rjYiAn 'he killed them' for T-ka1-rjveAn.

My limited data on the Im dialect show the syllabic 3MaSg allomorph asin R, hence ojsyAti 'tie it-Ma!'. However, I also recorded e rather than i int-9rjY-\e 'she killed him'.

For K-d, as in R, we get a homorganic semivowel rather than h after a highV, e.g. 9gluw-\a-hi 'go (away) for me!'.

For A-grm, the 3MaSg object clitic is -\i rather than -\e.

10.3.2 Dative clitics

Pronominal dative clitics are shown in (673). The clitics show no sign of theprenominal Dative preposition e or 1 (y-) (§6.3). Instead, the basic Dativemorpheme in clitics is -\ha-, reduced in some contexts to -\a-, and for T-kareduced in some other contexts to Aha-. The ISg and 1P1 dative clitics areidentical to the corresponding object clitics, but the 2nd and 3rd personsdistinguish dative from object clitics.

(673) Dative Pronominal Clitics (T-ka)

person full preverbal after C after α

ISg1P12MaSg2FeSg2MaPl2FePl3Sg3MaPl3FePl

-\ha-hiAha-nasY-\ha-k-\ha-m-\ha-waenAha-kmaet-\ha-s-\ha-saen-\ha-snaet

-\hiAha-naeYAh9-kAhs-mAhs-wsenAhs-kmaetAhs-sAhs-saen-\ha-snset

-\a-hiAa-naerAa-kAa-mAa-waenAa-kmaetAa-sAa-saenAa-snaet

-\0-hiA0-naeYA0-k-\0-rnA0-waen-\0-kmaetA0-sA0-saen-\0-snaet



608 10 Clitics

I have also heard the 2MaSg preverbal form as Ahs-kk with geminated kk.The "full" forms are used in the following cases: a) when the dative

immediately follows an object clitic (in preverbal or postverbal position); b)when the dative is postverbal and follows a high V {i u}. The "preverbal"column shows the form taken by the clitic when they immediately followpreverbal particles Negative wser or Future ad (which is always reduced to άbefore clitics), or a focalized constituent (e.g. mi 'who?' in questions). TheAha- of the full form is deleted in the ISg form, and reduced to -\ri3-elsewhere. The remaining columns show the forms in postverbal position aftera C (the h of the full form is dropped), and after α (the h is dropped and thetwo α vowels contract into one).

Instead of taking underlying /-ha-/ as the lexical form of the Dativemorpheme and having the /h/ deleted in some positions, one couldalternatively take the morpheme as l-a-l and posit an h-Insertion rule (likethat given for directional clitics in §10.2.1.1). However, the phonologicaldistribution of the /h/ in the datives is extensive, including some post-consonantal positions where an h-Insertion rule would have little motivation.This is unlike the case with Centripetal Aodd, where a minor h-Insertion ruleseems warranted.

Data from dialects other than T-ka (e.g. K-d R T-md) differ in the respectsindicated in (674).

(674) Dialectal Variants (non-T-ka)

a. no reduction of Aha- to Aha- in preverbal formsb. homorganic semivowel rather than h in ISg/lPl clitic after high

vowel, hence ...w-α-... after u and ...y-α-... after i

Examples of (674.a) are below. For (674.b), compare R i-t-irduwAa-hi 'hebelieves me' with T-ka i-t-irduAha-hi, and R i-t-iwlyAa-naer 'it is born forus' with T-ka i-t-iwlAha-naer. In practice, given the paucity of verb formsending in a high V, these combinations are infrequent.

The preverbal forms are used when the clitic is hosted by a preverbalparticle, usually Negative waer or a Future marker like ad (which reduces to abefore a clitic) Interrogatives like mi 'who?' and other fronted focalizedconstituents can also be followed by a clitic. In my T-ka data, the usual Aha-formative is reduced to Aha- in this position. No reduction occurs in examplesfrom other dialects. The ISg is Ahi in this position in all dialects.

(675) a. (T-ka) aAha-k 0-aennb. (T-md, R) a-\ha-k 0-aenn

FutADat-2MaSg 3MaSgS-say.ShImpf'He will say to you-Sg.'

In postverbal position, the Dative formative lacks h after most C's (676).




(676) i-waet-\a-hi-\tt3MaSgS-hit.PerfP-\Dat-lSg-\3MaSgO'He hit it for me.'

When the verb stem preceding the clitic ends in a, the clitic again lacks /h/and the two adjacent α vowels contract into a single a. This a is treated as asingle syllable for purposes of Default Accentuation. The location of thesurface morpheme boundary is indeterminate, but I will transcribe with -\0-after the stem-final V (677).

(677) l-nna-\0-saen3MaSgS-say.PerfP-\Dat-3MaPl'He said to them.'[< /i-9nna-\ha-SEen/]

The verb preceding the clitic may end in a high V {i u}, and rarely a dativeclitic may follow 3MaSg object clitic -\e. In these cases, T-ka uses the fullform of the dative clitic beginning with h. My R data show linkingsemivowels, w after u and y after i.

(678) a. (T-ka) i-t-iwi-\ho-hib. (R) i-t-iwly-\o-hi

3MaSgS-LoImpf-be.bom.LoImpfP-/Dat-lSg'It is born for me.'

The full h-form is also used when the dative clitic follows an object clitic,regardless of what phonological segment the object clitic ends in. In (679.a),the object clitic (underlying /-\t/ realized as -q- by assimilation) is C-final, butstill requires the h-form of the following dative clitic. (679.b) has an objectclitic ending in n. (679.c) shows the same construction with a V-final objectclitic.

(679) a. asss-aekf-aeq-\q-\ha-saenCaus-gi ve.PerfP-1 SgS-\3MaSgO-\Dat-3MaPlΊ made him give (it) to them.'

b. i-rjYe-\n-\ha-hi3MaSgS-kill.PerfP-\3MaPlO-\Dat-lSg'He killed them for me.'

c. i-waet-\a-hi-\ha-s3MaSgS-hit.PerfP-\O-lSg-\Dat-3Sg'He hit me for him/her.'



610 10 Clitics

As described in §10.4, below, the relative ordering of dative and objectclitics is variable. The examples in (679) coexist with alternatives where theobject clitic follows the dative, and grammaticality judgements of some of theexamples shown are variable.

10.4 Ordering of clitics

The basic ordering is that in (680).

(680) Clitic Order

1. host word2. cliticized preposition (in extraction constructions such as relatives)3. object and/or dative4. directional5. pronominal PP

The host is the clause-initial element that the clitics follow. In a simpleclause it is a preverbal particle (if present), otherwise it is the verb. In a relativeclause it is the clause-internal head, e.g. the head noun in an indefinite relativebut the demonstrative of a definite relative. In focalized and some subordinatedclauses, the host is the demonstrative-like element ά at the beginning of theclause.

In clauses where a NP complement of a preposition has been extracted(relatives §12.1, focalized clauses §12.2), and in subordinated clauses thatregularly include a cliticized Instrumental or Comitative preposition(§13.1.1-2), the preposition cliticizes to the host (and precedes any otherclitics). Examples are (681.a-b).

(681) a. i-rssej [aA3MaSg-be.frequent.Reslt [Dem-Mnstr-\Dat-lPl-\Centrii-t-is-\9dd]3MaSg-LoImpf-come.LoImpfP-\Centrip]'Frequently (=it is frequent that) he comes to us.'

b. ma-\daeY-\ha-m-\taen-\ddwhat?-\in-\Dat-2FeSg-\3MaP!O-\Centripe 1-z-aens ?Put 3MaSgS-Caus-trade.ShImpf'With (lit.: "in") what will he buy them for you-FeSg?' [K]

In (681. a), i-rsaej 'it is frequent' is the main clause. The subordinatedclause begins with the reduced demonstrative a-\, which serves as host. Thefirst morpheme following it is the cliticized Instr preposition -\s. The next



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A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali) Volume 748 () || 10.3 Pronominal clitics