Part 4 (1/2)
This clue, if followed up, appears to furnish an explanation of some other characters in which the little circle and loops are found. For example, the character shown in plate LXV, 44 (Dres. 2 (45)b and c), apparently refers to the act of sewing or st.i.tching indicated by the pictures below the text. As the circle and loops form an important part of the character, it is probable that _c_ or _ch_ is the chief or prominent element of the word. It is possible therefore, that _chuyah_, ”to sew,” or some derivative thereof, would be a proper rendering. The glyph shown in plate LXV, 45, from. Tro. 11*c is a duplication of LXV, 44. As the appendix, as shown elsewhere, probably has _ah_, _ha_, or _hal_ as its phonetic equivalent, we have, as the elements of the word represented by the whole glyph (omitting the prefix), _ch'-ch'ah_. As _choch_ (_chochah_), Perez, and _chooch_ (_choochah_), Henderson, signify ”to loosen, untie, disunite, detach,” this may be the true interpretation of the symbol. The presence of the eye in a symbol appears, as a rule, to have no special significance, as is shown by its presence sometimes in the symbols for the days _chicchan_ and _oc_. It is worthy of note that Dr Seler introduces into his manik series the character above shown as having some relation to and being possibly a variation of that symbol. Before attempting to trace the symbol of the day in its combinations with other characters, with a view of ascertaining its original signification, reference will be made to the signification of the day names in the different calendars.
The signification of the Nahuatl word _atl_ is water; the Zapotec names are also words for water. _Tohil_ was the name of the princ.i.p.al Quiche deity, and appears to have been the G.o.d of thunder and rain, and, as Seler presumes, was the representative in these nations of the Maya Chac and Mexican Tlaloc. According to Bra.s.seur, _toh_ signifies ”a heavy or sudden shower” or ”thunder shower.” Drs Seler and Brinton both derive the Maya and Tzental names from the radical _mul_ or _mol_, ”to join together, collect, heap up,” and suppose it refers to the gathering together of the waters (that is, the clouds) in the heavens. This brings the signification of these two names into harmony with that of the names of the other calendars, and is probably a correct interpretation.
There are but few places where the symbol of this day is found in connection with other characters that I have been able to interpret entirely satisfactorily.
The compound character shown in plate LXV, 46, is from Dres. 16c.
Judging by the evident parallelism of the groups in this division, this character is the symbol of the bird figured below the text. In this picture is easily recognized the head of the parrot. As _moo_ is the Maya name of a species of parrot (”the macaw”), and the circular character of the glyph is like the symbol for _muluc_, except that the circ.u.mscribing line is of dots, we may safely accept this term as the phonetic value. The fact that the small character is double, as is the _o_ in the word, is another indication that the rendering is correct, and probably accounts for the circle being of dots. (See above under _akbal_.) This interpretation appears to be further supported by the form of the symbol for the month _Mol_ as found at Dres. 47c. (See plate LXIV, 50.)
The hint furnished by these characters may enable us to gain a correct idea of the signification of the dotted line which surrounds one of the characters in each group of Dres. 7c, one of which is shown in plate LXV, 47. As the inclosing line of dots appears in some cases (but not all, for in some instances _o_ or _u_ appears to form the chief phonetic element) to indicate _mo_ or _mu_, it is possible that this glyph may be properly interpreted by _muhul_, ”a gift, dower, present,” or ”to present a gift or dower, to offer a present.” Hence the whole character shown in plate LXV, 47, may be interpreted ”to make a gift of cacao.”[238-1]
The usual form of the Mexican symbol of this day is shown in plate LXV, 48, the leaf-like portion being blue in the original to indicate water.
In regard to the origin of the character, Seler remarks: ”If the Maya character agrees with the Mexican (_atl_), we must look upon it as a water vessel.” Yet after a number of ill.u.s.trations and references he declares: ”I by no means affirm that the _vessel_ is expressed by the form of this character. The form seems to me to express rather the water drop.”
It is more likely that it represents a little circular hillock, seen from above, or something of that nature surrounded by a ring, as the significations given the Maya word _mul_ are ”hillock, heap, mound, mountain, ants' nest, etc.” However, if Henderson is correct in giving as one of its special meanings ”out of many one,” its origin may readily be seen. That it was taken from some object which could be designated by the word _mul_ or _mol_ may confidently be a.s.sumed. Hence the symbol is used for its phonetic value as a day character and not with any reference to the object represented. The little circle and loops seen in plate LXV, 43, from the Cortesian Codex 30b, are probably, as heretofore stated, introduced to give the _c_ sound. Dr Brinton suggests that it represents one thing in another of the same kind, with a reference to collecting together or heaping up.
THE TENTH DAY
Maya, _oc_; Tzental, _elab_; Quiche-Cakchiquel, _tzi_; Zapotec, _tella_; Nahuatl, _itzcuintli_.
The symbol of this day as given by Landa is shown in plate LXV, 49. This is substantially the usual form found in the codices as given in LXV, 50, 51, 55, the first two being usual in the Troano, Cortesian, and Peresian codices, and 55 in the Dresden. In a few instances, as Tro. 12a and 12c, it a.s.sumes the face form 52. The face form shown at 54 occurs in the Dresden Codex, as do the variations seen at 53 and 56.
Dr Seler and Bra.s.seur contend that the forms shown in plate LXV, 52 and 54, make it evident that the broken line, which is the chief characteristic of the glyph, is intended to represent, or rather is derived from, the ear of the dog. This, Seler says, is frequently represented in the Mexican codices, and also many times in the Maya ma.n.u.scripts, with the tip of the ear torn away. To ill.u.s.trate this, he presents several figures of dog's heads, one of which is shown in our plate LXV, 57.[239-1]
There would seem to be some foundation for this supposition, yet there are difficulties in the way of its acceptance which appear unsurmountable. The first of these is that it furnishes no explanation or clue to the relation between the symbol and the Maya or Tzental name.
Second, it does not appear to have been used in any instance as the symbol of the dog, which seems to be a fatal objection, if it is a.s.sumed to be merely ideographic. Third, it renders only more difficult any explanation of the character shown in plate LXV, 58, which is of such frequent occurrence in all the codices. If a satisfactory interpretation of this glyph could be found, it would a.s.sist greatly in deciphering the codices. I am rather inclined to think it is a sign of repet.i.tion--as ”repeat thrice.” If there were some word for _ear_ which could be connected with _oc_ or _elab_, then we might suppose the symbol to be used phonetically. However, as this can not be found, some other explanation must be sought.
The Nahuatl and Quiche-Cakchiquel names are the ordinary terms in these languages for ”dog,” and the Mexican symbol for the day is the head of a dog. Dr Seler does not attempt to explain the Tzental name, and merely suggests that the Maya word _oc_, ”foot, footprint, track,” and as a verb, ”to enter, to go into,” may have been adopted by the priests as expressing a prominent characteristic of the dog. Dr Brinton is inclined to derive the name _oc_ from the verb _ocol_, _oclah_, ”to steal, to rob,” rather than from _ocol_, ”to enter,” supposing it to have been selected as indicative of another characteristic of the dog. This he believes also to be the signification of the Tzental term _elab_. This it seems to me is again reversing the order, unless we a.s.sume that the Quiche _tzi_ and Mexican _itzcuintli_ are the older terms.[240-1]
Dr Brinton says that according to Bartolome de Pisa the Zapotec name signifies ”dog,” though he does not find it with this meaning in the vocabularies. Dr Seler, however, obtains the signification ”dog” for this name by supposing that it is derived from _tee-lao_, ”mouth downward,” referring to some myth of a dog representing the lightning, or lightning demon, as falling or plunging downward from the sky in certain figures of the codices. This, Dr Brinton says, ”seems strained,”
which may also be said of the explanations of the Maya name.
The symbol of the dog as found in the Dresden Codex (13c), and as admitted by Dr Seler, is shown in plate LXV, 59. The same symbol is found in the same codex, 21b. Now, I think it possible to show, with a considerable degree of certainty, what is the chief phonetic element of this symbol, at least of its first or left-hand character. In plate LXV, 60, from Tro. 22*a, is seen (omitting the prefix) substantially the symbol that Landa interprets _le_, ”the la.s.so,” and also ”to la.s.so.” As the lower character is his _e_, we may take for granted that the upper portion indicates the _l_ sound; further evidence of this, however, will be presented under the twentieth day. As this is followed by the symbol seen in plate LXV, 61, which refers to the ”turkey” (kutz or cuitz),[240-2] and the figure below the text shows a snared turkey, the interpretation appears to be appropriate. Turning now to Dres. 44 (l)c, we notice in the picture below the text the compound glyph shown in plate LXV, 62. Immediately below it is the figure of a fish, which the two individuals represented are trying to catch in a seine. As this contains the same elements as 61 (plate LXV), reversed, the phonetic value should be _tz'c_. Referring to Perez' Lexicon, we find that _tzac_ is a fish ”so named;” Bra.s.seur says, ”a little fish resembling a sardine which inhabits the senotes.”
Now these give _tz'_ as the chief phonetic element of the left character of the dog symbol (LXV, 59), which is also the consonant element of the name for ”dog” (_tzi_) in the Tzental, Cakchiquel, and most of the Maya dialects, though not of the Maya proper. This furnishes a consistent and appropriate rendering of the left portion of the symbol. Although the symbol for the mouth _Kankin_ (LXV, 63) presents a difficulty, it is possible some other name was applied to this month of which _tz_ was a leading element; Yaxkin is sometimes written with the prefix _Dze_.
As _och_ is the Maya name for the ”male fox,” and _oquil_ or _ocquil_ is the name in Tzental and Tzotzil for ”wolf,” it is possible the Maya name may have been derived from one of these. Moreover, it is worthy of notice that ”foot” in Tzotzil is written _oquil_ as well as _oc_.
I was at first inclined to adopt Dr Seler's suggestion that the distinguis.h.i.+ng feature of the symbol might have been taken from the dog's ears as given in the codices. However, a more thorough examination leads me to doubt this suggestion. The little black clots or blocks on the bent line appear here, as in the _chicchan_ symbol, to be the most prominent and essential elements of the symbol. As they do not appear in the ear figures, it seems impossible that the character should have been derived from these figures. It is more likely that they represent the knots on a string or cord; and this supposition appears to be sustained by the fact that the Maya word _hok_, according to Bra.s.seur, signifies ”a knot, hook;” and _hokal_ ”to be knotted, formed of knots.” Perez says ”_hok_, el lazo formado para anudar;” ”_hokol_, laza.r.s.e para anuda.r.s.e la cuerda.” If this supposition be correct, the symbol is used for the day because of its phonetic value, and without any reference to its original signification.
THE ELEVENTH DAY
Maya, _chuen_; Tzental, _batz_; Quiche-Cakchiquel, _batz_; Zapotec, _loo_; Nahuatl, _ozomatli_.
The symbol of this day is subject to few and slight variations. The form given by Landa, which is also quite common in most of the codices, especially Tro. and Cort., is shown in plate LXV, 64. Slight variants are shown in LXV, 65, 66, and 67. An exceptional and peculiar form from Dres. 32b is seen in LXV, 68. A form from the Perez codex in which an eye is introduced is given at LXV, 69. The character on the Palenque Tablet and some other inscriptions, which is supposed to be the symbol of this day, is shown at LXV, 70, but the proof that it is, in these cases, the day symbol is not so conclusive as that in regard to other day symbols, as no method of bringing it into relation with the other time symbols of the inscriptions has been found.
A closely corresponding form is seen in the symbol for the mouth _Tzec_ as found in the Dres. Codex (see plate LXV, 71). If the glyphs are in any sense phonetic, it is probable that in the comb-like appendage to this symbol (Landa's _ca_) we have the _'c_ (_'k_) sound, and that the variation in the main character from the usual _chuen_ glyph (in having the bounding line open and turned right and left at the top) is indicative of the variation in the phonetic value. The explanation of the symbol, which replaces the eye in the dog or panther like figure in Tro. 32c and 33c, and is alluded to by Dr Seler in this connection (LXVI, 1), has already been given under the discussion of the ”Third Day.” There, as I have shown, it probably indicates the Maya word _choco_, ”heat, warmth,” alluding to the hot, dry season which parches and shrivels up the growing corn. This explanation retains the phonetic value of the symbol, and it appears also to be entirely consistent with the figures found in connection with it.
There is another symbol closely allied in form (plate LXVI, 2) which is of frequent occurrence in the codices, usually, and, in fact, almost exclusively, in the picture s.p.a.ces, and apparently bearing some relation to the offerings. It is often in groups, and is many times repeated in groups on the so-called ”t.i.tle pages” of the Tro. and Cort. ma.n.u.scripts.
It, however, frequently occurs in the form seen in the dog's eye (LXVI, 1), grouped as the other (Dres., 25a, etc) and undoubtedly used as an equivalent, as we find numerals attached as with the other form. The only distinction, as will be observed, is the presence or absence of the little divided square at the top. As that with the divided square is more detailed, it is probably the correct form, and, if so, can not be distinguished from the _Chuen_ symbol.