In the compound glyph 24, plate [LXVIII], from Dres. 67b, to which Seler also refers in the same connection, we see in the figure below the same deity wading in water in which a fish is swimming. The right portion of the symbol is the same as the last (plate [LXVIII], 23) and presumably has the same signification—cayom, “a fisherman,” or cayomal, “to fish.” I am unable to interpret the first or left-hand character; possibly it may be found in one of the terms chucay, or ɔaucay, which Henderson gives as equivalents of cayomal. The latter—ɔaucay—would give to this prefix precisely the phonetic value I have hitherto assigned it.
The next character Dr Seler refers to in this connection is that shown in plate [LXVIII], 25, from Dres. 40c, where the long-nose god is seen below rowing a boat on the water. The adjoining symbol in the text is a fish. It is probable therefore that substantially the same interpretation is to be given here.
The group shown in plate [LXIV], 9, consisting of an Imix and Kan symbol, is of frequent occurrence in all the codices. The relation of the characters in this combination varies, the order being frequently the reverse of that given in the figure, and again one being placed on top of the other. They frequently follow deity symbols, especially the symbol of the so called “Corn god,” and in these instances seem to refer to some attribute of the divinity indicated. However, they are by no means confined to these relations, being found quite frequently in other connections. The combination is occasionally borne upon the back of an individual, as Dres. 16a, and on Tro. 21b it is on the back of a dog. Dr Seler concludes “that it denotes the copal or the offering of incense.” However, he subsequently[210-1] expresses the view that it may signify “beans and maize.” In a previous work[210-2] some reasons were presented by me for believing this combination was intended to denote bread or maize bread. This belief is based on the statement by Landa in his account of the sacrifices at the beginning of the year Muluc, that they made “images of dogs, in baked earth, carrying bread on the back,” and the fact that in plate 21 of the Codex Tro., representing the sacrifices of this year, we see the figure of a dog with this Kan-Imix group on its back. This figure (plate [LXIV], 10) probably represents the images of which Landa speaks, and the symbols on the back, bread or food in the general sense. Further notice of this combination will be given under the fourth day, Kan.
The character shown in plate [LXVIII], 26, from Tro. 20*d, is erroneously given by Seler as an example of the kan-imix symbol. The two glyphs on the mat figure are unquestionably imix symbols, though of the two different types shown in plate [LXIV], 1 and 5. He suggests that here it replaces the deity symbol, but this is contradicted by the fact that in both groups where it appears the deity symbol is present. The mat-like figure, which is probably a determinative, shows that it refers to the sack, bag, or kind of hamper which the women figured below bear on the back, filled with corn, bones, etc. As mucuc signifies “portmanteau, bag, sack, etc,” mucub “a bag or sack made of sackcloth,” and mucubcuch “to carry anything in a sack or folded in a shawl,” it is more than probable we have in these words the signification of the symbol. The duplication of the imix symbol may be to denote the plural; or, as the words come from a root signifying “secret, hidden, covered,” it may be to intensify. It is noticeable also that the latter or right-hand Imix symbol is similar to that used for the mouth Mac.
In the right section of Dres. 41b is the glyph shown in plate [LXIV], 11, which, according to the phonetic system that appears to prevail in this writing, may be translated yulpolic, from yulpol, “to smooth or plane wood,” or, as given by Henderson (MS. Lexicon), “to smooth, plane, or square timber, to beat off the log.” This interpretation, which is given here merely because of its relation to the symbol which follows, is based in part on the following evidence: The left character, which has y as its chief phonetic element, is the same as the upper character in the symbol for the month Yax (plate [LXIV], 12), and also the upper character of the symbol for the month Yaxkin (plate [LXIV], 13). Other evidence of its use with this value will be presented farther on, and also in reference to the right character of the above-mentioned symbol (plate [LXIV], 11), which has been given p as its chief phonetic element. By reference to the figure below the text the appropriateness of this rendering is at once apparent, as here is represented an individual in the act of chipping off the side of a tree. This he appears to be doing by holding in his left hand an instrument resembling a frow, which he strikes with a hatchet.
The character immediately below the one above mentioned and belonging to the same series is shown in plate [LXIV], 14. It may be interpreted mamachah, “to make flat by repeated strokes.” The phonetic value of the parts is obtained in this way. The upper character with two wings is Landa’s ma, except that the circular wings contain the lines or strokes which the bishop has omitted, and which appear to indicate the m sound and are observed in the Imix symbol. Colonel Mallery, comparing this with the sign of negation made by the Indians and that of the Egyptians given by Champollion (our plate [LXIV], 15), concludes that it is derived from the symmetrically extended arms with the hands curved slightly downward. This will furnish an explanation of the strokes in the terminal circles. The left of the two lower characters is almost identical with the symbol for the month Mac (plate [LXIV], 4), omitting the ca glyph. The lower right-hand character is similar to the symbol for the month Chuen. We thus obtain legitimately the sounds ma ma-ch, whether we consider the parts truly phonetic or only ikonomatic.
For further illustration of the use of this symbol and evidence of phoneticism, the reader is referred to the article in the American Anthropologist above mentioned.
The fact that a symbol is used to denote a given Maya day does not prove, supposing it to be in any sense phonetic, that the Maya name gives the original equivalent. It may have been adopted to represent the older name in the Tzental, or borrowed from the Zapotec calendar and retained in the Maya calendar for the new name given in that tongue. However, the symbol for this first day, which has substantially the same name in the Maya and Tzental, appears to represent the name in these languages and to be in some degree phonetic, m being the chief phonetic element represented by it. The crosshatching in the little circle at the top, seen in some of the older forms found in the inscriptions, may indicate, as will later be seen, the x or ch sound, thus giving precisely the radical m-x.
It may be said, in reference to the signification of the names of the day in different dialects, that no settled or entirely satisfactory conclusion has been reached in regard to either.
The Cakchiquel word imox is translated by the grammarian Ximenes as “swordfish,” thus corresponding with the usual interpretation of the Mexican cipactli. Dr Seler thinks, however, that the Maya names were derived, as above stated, from im. Nevertheless he concludes that the primitive signification of both the Maya and Mexican symbols is the earth, “who brings forth all things from her bosom and takes all living things again into it.” If we may judge from its use, there is no doubt that the Mexican cipactli figure is a symbol of the earth or underworld. The usual form of the day symbol in the Mexican codices is shown in plate [LXIV], 16, and more elaborately in plate [LXIV], 17. As proof that it indicates the earth or underworld, there is shown on plate 73 of the Borgian Codex an individual, whose heart has been torn from his breast, plunging downward through the open jaws of the monster into the shades or earth below. On plate 76 of the same codex, the extended jaws open upward, and into them a number of persons are marching in regular order. These apparently represent the thirteen months of the sacred year. One has passed on and disappeared from view, and the other twelve are following with bowed heads. It would seem from these to be not only symbolic of the earth or hades, but also to have some relation to time.