Block 12 · pages 97-106

Chapter 3: Type 2 Noun Plurals (continued) – Apophony, t(a)- Nouns, Special Plurals, and Double Plurals

3.2.3.2.3 Plural patterns with apophony

Several apophonic patterns exist. The pattern i-CuC(C)aC applies to singulars of shape a-CVC(C)VC, regardless of the singular's vocalization (e.g., a-rázum > i-rúzam 'bag for cereal'). The pattern i-CǝC(C)aC is found with many singulars having /o/ in the last syllable or homophonous vowels (e.g., a-bákot > i-bǝkat 'old tent skin'). The pattern i-CaC(C)an is less frequent and involves gemination of the stem-final consonant for some nouns (e.g., a-har > i-harran 'lion').

3.2.3.2.4 Plural pattern with resyllabification and -an

This pattern involves stems where the vowel of the first syllable is neutralized to schwa and the second syllable collapses with the suffix (e.g., a-kabar > i-kabr-an 'milk receptacle'; a-yram > i-yram-an 'town').

3.2.3.2.5 Minor plural patterns

Stems with final /w/ and /y/ display different behaviors. Many nouns drop the final consonant and the suffix vowel changes. Songhay /w/-final nouns like cidaw 'bird' pluralize as cid-an. Tamasheq /y/-final nouns may take -en instead of expected -an (e.g., a-fartay > i-farten 'mat'). Monosyllabic Songhay nouns like zay 'theft' keep the final /y/ and add -en.

3.2.3.3 Nouns with the prefix t(a)-

Feminine nouns with t(a)- form plurals using the same strategies as other Type 2 nouns. The plural prefix is i- (often realized as schwa unless followed by /y/ or /j/). The singular suffix -t is absent when a plural suffix is present. Both -in and -an suffixes occur, as well as apophony and resyllabification (e.g., t-a-bakar-t > t-a-bakr-in 'ewe'; t-a-bobas-t > t-a-bobaz-an 'female cross-cousin').

3.2.3.3.1 Some special plurals

Some plurals invert consonants (a-laweg > i-legw-an 'branch'), add a suffix -wan (a-daad > i-daad-wan 'finger'), surface absent consonants (a-zar > i-zar-wan 'sinew'), or insert a /w/ sound (a-bajez > i-bazg-an 'pot').

3.2.3.3.2 Plurals without singular

Many nouns are only found in the plural form. These include pairs (i-dmar-an 'chest'), natural liquids (ary-én 'water', kud-én 'blood'), and abstract collections (i-zibz-an 'gifts for naming ceremony').

3.2.3.3.3 Double plurals

Two items allow double plurals: taymu 'sandal' > taym-én-en 'pairs of sandals', and bora 'person' > bor-én-en 'groups of people'.

Keywords : apophony vowel pattern resyllabification t-prefix nouns feminine plural special plurals plural without singular double plural