Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
For typographical reasons the Jahai words and phrases in the following grammatical sketch have been transcribed from the Anthropos alphabet into the script of the International Phonetic Association. The two alphabets do not strictly correspond, and it seems desirable to add a few explanations of some of the symbols used.
1 Literally “asks”.
2 Or “dwells”.
3 i.e. “he has a mat spread near his breast”.
4 i.e. “is pleased”.
5 Karei helps the Hala by breathing into the magic ceboh stone for him. To cure the sick, the Hala takes the magic stone in both hands and blows upon it.
6 Or “radiance”.
1 i.e. both legs, along the shins.
2 Cad?n krpe:g?n is a curious phrase; the primary sense of cad?H is “foot” and hence “from”; so here “from above” really comes to mean “on to the top of”.
1 Ia, usually indicating the past tense, has the force of “and then” in this and the following sentences where it occurs.