Reconstruction of the Proto-Berber Light Verbs

Putten, M. van (2024)

Article / Letter to editor

The reconstruction of the Proto-Berber light verbs (i.e. CCC, *ălməd ‘to learn’, VCC, *agəm ‘to draw water’, CC *ăǵən ‘to lie down’ and C̄C: *ăffəɣ ‘to go out’), has received considerable attention in Berber historical linguistics. But, verbs that have u in the second syllable such as Ghadamsi əmdu ‘to finish’ and əṭkur ‘to fill’ require further study. These verbs share several formal similarities with the regular light verb of the type *ălməd ‘to learn’, but they have not yet been integrated into a model of the Proto-Berber verbal system. This paper will propose a reconstruction of the Proto-Berber light verb, incorporating these verbs as a subclass of the light verb, whose difference in vocalisation is triggered by the presence of a plain vowel in the second syllable of the stem.

• Proto-Berber
• Verbal morphology
• Historical linguistics
• Reconstruction.

• All authors: Putten, M. van
• Date: 2024-07-05
• Journal: Études et Documents Berbères
• Volume: 2023
• Issue: 49-50
• Pages: 295 - 318
• DOI: doi:10.3917/edb.049.0295