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In this paper I propose an analysis of Seereer that accounts for the variation found in reduplication by building on the insights of featural affixation theories (Akinlabi 1996, Zoll 1998) and Correspondence Theory (McCarthy & Prince 1995) within the overall constraint-based framework of Optimality Theory (OT). I conclude that unless other conflicting constraints intervene, featural transfer between base and reduplicant systematically takes place. 3 The organisation of the article is as follows: §2 presents the facts of consonant mutation in Seereer and the general approach, §3 consists of an analysis of consonant mutation within a constraint-based framework and §4 provides an account of featural transfer and variation in reduplicative forms. 2 Throughout this article, mutating consonants are indicated by boldface. 3 A similar conclusion is reached by Myers & Carleton (1996) with regard to tonal transfer in Chichewa. Consonant mutation and reduplication in Seereer-Siin 335 Consonant mutation and reduplication in Seereer-Siin 337 In stems that undergo mutation, a given noun class always conditions the same grade, either a, b, or c, regardless of the gradation set or the mutation type (see Appendix 1). Thus, for example, Class 1, which contains human singular nouns, conditions the b-grade. Stems that undergo voicing mutation will appear in voiceless stop-initial forms in that class, while those that undergo continuancy mutation will appear in stop-initial, as opposed to continuant-initial, form. Class 2, which contains human plural nouns, conditions the a-grade, and Class 3b, which contains augmentative singular nouns, conditions the c-grade. By way of example, consider the two nouns in (7). The stem for 'sick person' undergoes voicing mutation, while the stem for 'dead person' undergoes continuancy mutation. In Class 1, the allomorphs occur in their b-grade forms: a voiceless stop, [c], for 'sick person' and a stop, [q], for 'dead person'. In Class 2, the allomorphs occur in their a-grade forms: a voiced stop, [j], for 'sick person', and a continuant, [x], for 'dead person.' In Class 3b they both exhibit prenasalised stops or c-grade forms: [nj] and [NG], respectively. (7) Class 1 b-grade ocir oqon Class 2 a-grade J ir xon Class 3b c-grade ajijir aNGon 'sick person' ' dead person' Voicing mutation Continuancy mutation Consonant mutation and reduplication in Seereer-Siin 363 Sagey, Elizabeth (1986). The representation of features and relations in nonlinear phonology.

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In this paper I show that public writing (and its effacement) during a recent period of crisis in northern Mali constituted a powerful tool by which various factions attempted to inscribe political hegemony on the linguistic warscapes of three cities: Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu. The warscapes of these Saharan cities are linguistically complex: they are written in multiple languages, primarily French, Arabic and Tamasheq, and involve three different scripts, Latin, Arabic and Tifinagh, each of which is associated with a number of ideological stances. Within this context, linguistic warscape becomes more than the symbolic construction of the public space, it becomes symbolic control of the public space. The linguistic warscape of northern Mali stands in stark contrast to the linguistic soundscape which, in addition to Tamasheq, is dominated by languages that rarely or never appear in the LL. This paper shows that in multilingual, multigraphic contexts, LL can only be understood against the backdrop of an entire linguistic ecology and its regimes of literacy.