Fig. 10. Examples of glyph elision, showing elimination of all parts except essential element (here, the crossed bands).
Moreover, there is encountered at the very outset in the study of these elements a condition which renders progress slow and results uncertain. In Egyptian texts of any given period the simple phonetic elements or signs are unchanging under all conditions of composition. Like the letters of our own alphabet, they never vary and may be recognized as unfailingly. On the other hand, in Maya texts each glyph is in itself a finished picture, dependent on no other for its meaning, and consequently the various elements entering into it undergo very considerable modifications in order that the resulting composite character may not only be a balanced and harmonious
design, but also may exactly fill its allotted space. All such modifications probably in no way affect the meaning of the element thus mutilated.
Fig. 11. Normal-form and head-variant glyphs, showing retention of essential element in each.
The element shown in figure [10], a-e is a case in point. In a and b we have what may be called the normal or regular forms of this element. In c, however, the upper arm has been omitted for the sake of symmetry in a composite glyph, while in d the lower arm has been left out for want of space. Finally in e both arms have disappeared and the element is reduced to the sign (*
