jalāmīke

jalāmīke

We’re still on the final sentence of the 18th Conlang Relay Text:

ā macēna nīkamma sālne jajēren jē nā ñamma sū ma hāl jalāmīke jalūnte rājatā;

Looking at the main part of the sentence, we have the relational ñi signalling a change of state. Interposed between ñi and its object is a locative phrase sÅ« ma hāl which means “at the front of him/her”. The reduced pronoun ma most likely refers to the other actor in our story, the carved statue of the young man. There is another locative phrase following the object, namely rājatā “to the bottom [of it]” which clarifies that the change of state is actually a change in location.

The object of ñi is the phrase jalāmÄ«ke jalÅ«nte. I’ll discuss the first word today and the second word of it tomorrow. jalāmÄ«ke refers to a facial or head covering designed to obscure ones features, and so can denote a mask or a veil. So, “The woman with only a playful smile set down in front of him…” some sort of mask or veil.