@ -332,8 +332,8 @@ Ama has a distributive suffix *-ɪ́d̪* that marks incremental distribution of
Distributive pluractionals are characterized by optionality with a plural participant (distributivity implies plurality but is distinct from it),[^42] which distinguishes them from plural-object pluractionals found in many Nubian languages that mark, and are thus obligatory with, plural objects.[^43] Distributives are also characterized by non-occurrence with dual participants (to be non-trivial, distribution requires at least three targets).[^44] The Ama distributive has the first property of optionality in transitive (but not intransitive) verbs, and the second property of non-duality with respect to subjects (but not objects).[^45] This second property is shared by the Afitti suffix *-t(ə)r* which likewise does not occur with dual subjects.[^46] This is shown in Afitti field data below,[^47] where the suffix *-t(ə)r* contrasts in this respect with plural pronominal affixes 1pl *ko-*, 2pl *o-*, and 3pl *-i* which do occur with dual subjects.
[^42]: Corbett, *Number,* p. 116.
[^43]: Jakobi, this issue.
[^44]: Corbett, Number, pp. 115-116.
[^43]: 
[^44]: Corbett, *Number,* pp. 115-116.
[^45]: Norton, “Number in Ama vVrbs,” pp. 78, 79, 91.
[^46]: de Voogt, “Dual Marking and Kinship Terms in Afitti,” p. 903.
[^47]: I am grateful to Alex de Voogt for sharing this data in personal communication from his field research on Afitti.
@ -353,14 +353,14 @@ Beyond the Nyima branch, the Temein “plural action” suffix *-(ɨ)t̪* shares
The confirmation of distributive markers across Nubian, Nyima, and Temein implies that a distributive pluractional was present in Eastern Sudanic from an early stage, with a form like *\*-id.* In Nubian the consonant is palatal,[^50] and although palatals are a difficult area for establishing wider sound correspondences,[^51] the palatal arises in the plausible conditioning environment of a high front vowel.
[^50]: Jakobi, this issue. Jakobi points that the other very similar suffix *-íd* in Midob cannot be reconstructed to proto-Nubian from just one Nubian language, so appears to be an innovation, and her observation of its similarity to the Ama suffix clearly suggests borrowing into Midob from Ama’s ancestor or another related language. Hence, the reconstructable pluractional **[i]ɟ* is more viable as the historic cognate of the Ama suffix.
[^51]: Rilly, *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique,* pp. 303-304.
[^50]:  Jakobi points that the other very similar suffix *-íd* in Midob cannot be reconstructed to proto-Nubian from just one Nubian language, so appears to be an innovation, and her observation of its similarity to the Ama suffix clearly suggests borrowing into Midob from Ama’s ancestor or another related language. Hence, the reconstructable pluractional **[i]ɟ* is more viable as the historic cognate of the Ama suffix.
[^51]: Rilly,  pp. 303-304.
### Second Historic Pluractionals
Ama’s second distributive suffix *-r* corresponds to the Nubian plural object marker *\*-er,*[^52] and since this suffix is much less productive in Ama, it may well have been bleached of its original meaning. In the Kordofan Nubian language Uncu, the cognate extension *-er* has the same function as the irregular pluractional stem *(kol/)kom* “eat,” as both occur with plural objects.[^53] Similarly in Ama, some trills shown below occur in the same category as the irregular progressive stem *(t̪àl/)tām* “eat,” providing evidence that the trill originally marked the second Nyima pluractional that is now progressive.
[^52]: Jakobi, this issue.
[^52]: 
[^53]: Comfort, “Verbal Number in the Uncu Language.”
The Ama suffix *-ar* can be added to a progressive verb as a mirative that marks unexpected events (*swāy-ɔ́* “was cultivating” → *swāy-ɔ̄r-ɔ́* “was unexpectedly cultivating”, where the vowel has harmonized to the following vowel). However, this suffix is also used to disambiguate progressive verb forms from otherwise indistinguishable factatives (*sāŋ-ɛ̄n/sāŋ-ɛ̄n, sāŋ-ār-ɛ̄n* “search (du.)”),[^54] providing what looks like an alternate progressive stem to take the dual suffix. Similarly, the negative imperative construction in Ama requires a progressive stem with *-ar* after the negative particle *fá* as shown in **table 14** below. Inflections occurring in this construction are a plural subject marker *à-* on the particle, and dual or distributive marking on the verb. Only the dual suffix can occur without *-ar*, where in my data the dual suffix adds to the longer stem with *-ar* unless the short stem is suppletive (*t̪ī-ə̀/túŋ* “sleep,” t̪àl/*tām* “eat”) and can take the dual suffix without ambiguity with factative aspect.
@ -428,4 +428,4 @@ This period nevertheless also reveals one significant example of simplification
[^68]: Stevenson, Rottland & Jakobi, “The Verb in Nyimang and Dinik,” pp. 34-38.
[^69]: Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: p. 177.
The seventh issue of *Dotawo* is dedicated to Comparative Northern East Sudanic linguistics, offering new insights in the historical connections between the Nubian languages and other members of the NES family such as Nyimang, Tama, Nara, and Meroitic. A special focus is placed on comparative morphology.
