The evidences of phonography are few and, as must be admitted, not entirely satisfactory; yet they are apparently sufficient to justify the somewhat general belief that the writing of the Mayas had reached that stage where characters are sometimes used to indicate sounds. That comparatively little advance had been made in this direction at the time of the conquest is possible; moreover there is nothing to justify the belief that they made use of true letters as Landa supposed. If they had a phonographic system of any kind it was very imperfect and was only in that primary stage in which syllables are represented by single characters and words of more than one syllable by compound characters. Judging by the changes observed in the relation of the parts of compound characters to one another, we conclude that the order of arranging these parts was not uniform or essential. It is also doubtful, if any of these characters are phonetic, whether the parts of the longer words were always written out in full. I am led to believe, from a few slight indications, that, in forming words of more than one syllable, they often used only the leading phonetic elements of the single words of which they are composed; in other words, that they followed the rebus method of the Mexicans.
Descending to particulars and examples, the following are, perhaps, the strongest proofs which can be presented on this point:
As there can no longer be any doubt that the symbols for the cardinal points have been ascertained and that those relating to the polar points are distinguishable from those relating to the equatorial points, we are justified in referring to them in this discussion. As each of the two assigned to the equatorial points contains the symbol for “sun” or “day” and as the two Maya words for these points—Likin or Lakin and Chikin—contain the Maya term for sun or day (“kin”), there is some reason for believing that the characters are phonetic. There is to be added to this evidence the fact that the symbol of the month Yaxkin contains the same sun symbol. It would be somewhat remarkable to find the same single character in three different combinations, representing three different ideas expressed by words containing the same sound, yet having no reference to the sound.
It is now generally admitted by students of American paleography, on what appears to be satisfactory evidence, that symbol [No. 7] of the preceding list, Cab, is used to signify “earth” or “land” and “honey,” both of which are designated by the same Maya term, Cab. As there is no similarity in the things denoted the character is probably phonetic. The “bee” appears also to be frequently indicated by the same character with an affix, as may be seen by reference to the lower divisions of Plates III*—X* of the Manuscript Troano.
The symbol [No. 9] (U) of the preceding list is found repeatedly on vases and also as a prefix to both simple and compound characters. As U in Maya signifies “moon,” “vase,” and certain pronouns and is also used as a euphonic particle before vowels, we are perhaps justified in concluding that the symbol is phonetic and denotes the word U. I am aware that neither Perez nor Dr. Brinton gives “vase” as one of the meanings of this word, yet its constant appearance on vessels seems to leave no doubt that Brasseur is correct. Even admitting that he is mistaken and that we are in error as to the signification of the symbol, its various uses justify the belief that it is phonetic.
The symbol [No. 34] of the preceding list, which is supposed to be that of the god Ekchuah, is probably phonetic. The name of this deity is composed of two Maya words, ek, “black,” and chu, “calabash,” and hence signifies “the black calabash,” and the form and coloring of the symbol are apparently intended to denote this signification. If this interpretation be correct it is phonetic, as there is nothing in or pertaining to the figure of the deity which corresponds with it, except the color.
If the interpretation given of the preceding symbols Nos. [22], [24], [26], [27a], and [33] be correct, there can be scarcely a doubt that they are phonetic. In the first—cacau, cacauak, or cacauche, the “cacao”—we see Landa’s letter Ca, which is doubled in each of the three forms taken from the different codices. In the twenty-sixth—Kukuitz, the Quetzal—Landa’s Ku is duplicated, as it should be if phonetic, while in 27a, Kuch, it appears but once. There is here also an additional evidence of phoneticism in the fact that, while one of the symbols used to denote this bird shows simply its head, and is surely not phonetic, the other is entirely different and bears no resemblance whatever to any feature or characteristic of the bird. Moreover, both parts of it are used in other combinations referring to entirely different things.
If my interpretation of [No. 14] (Xamach or Chimix) be right, it is probably phonetic also. It is composed, as will be seen by reference to the figure, of two symbols closely resembling that for the day Ymix, except that the top portion of one is omitted. The resemblance in sound to a duplication of Ymix is apparent. The slight but permanent variation of the right hand portion from the usual Ymix symbol and the omission of the top portion of the left hand one are scarcely explainable on the supposition that they form simply a conventional sign; but if phonetic the reason is apparent, as the m sound is not repeated in the Maya name. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that the month Mac, found in the last or bottom line of Plate 49, is precisely the same as the right portion of [No. 14], with Landa’s symbol for Ca added. This probably justifies us in concluding that the true name of this month is Camach, “the jaw” or “jaws,” and that Landa’s figure is simply a rude representation of the lips or mouth.
I have expressed the opinion[370-1] that the chief phonetic element of [No. 8] (the stone symbol), if used to represent sound, is p or pp. This opinion seems to be confirmed by the fact that this character is found as a part of the symbol for the month Pop on Plate 50 of the Dresden Codex. (See the second character in the first transverse line below the day columns in the preceding [Fig. 362].) The method of determining the months referred to in these plates of the codex has been given in the preceding part of this paper.
The interpretation given above of symbol [No. 24] (the moo or ara) will probably be accepted by all students of these manuscripts, and if so its phonetic character must be conceded. That it is used in the place above alluded to (Dresden Codex, Plate 16c) to denote this bird is proved by the parallelism of the groups and the figure of the parrot under it. If we turn now to Plate 48 of this codex we observe that the second character of the first line below the day columns and the first character in the upper line of the lower group or square is, in each case, a bird’s head. It is easily proved by means of the numeral series with which these are connected that they denote, in both cases, the month Moan (from the moo), proving that Brasseur’s surmise was correct.[370-2] If the same bird is represented by two symbols, one pictorial and the other having no resemblance to any feature or character of the thing denoted, it is probable the latter is phonetic. This conclusion is strengthened in this case by the strong resemblance of the first part of [No. 24] to the symbol for the month Mol.