the comblike element _h_. Far from destroying the phonetic character of this composite glyph, however, this variant _k_ in reality strengthens it, since in Maya the word for fish is _cay_ (_c_ hard) and consequently the variant reads _caytun_, a close phonetic approximation of _katun_. The remaining element of this glyph (_l_) has the value _cauac_, the first syllable of which is also expressed by either _h_ or _k_, figure 13. Its use in _i_ and _j_ probably may be regarded as but a further emphasis of the phonetic character of the glyph. It must be remembered, however, that all of the above glyphs have meanings quite independent of their phonetic values, that primarily their function was to convey ideas, and that only secondarily were they used in their phonetic senses. [Illustration: FIG. 13. Glyphs built up on a phonetic basis.] If neither the phonetic nor the ideographic character of the glyphs can be wholly admitted, what then is the true nature of the Maya writing? The theory now most generally accepted is, that while chiefly ideographic, the glyphs are sometimes phonetic, and that although the idea of a glyphic alphabet must finally be abandoned, the phonetic use of syllables as illustrated above must as surely be recognized. This kind of writing Doctor Brinton has called _ikonomatic_, more familiarly known to us under the name of rebus, or puzzle writing. In such writing the characters do not indicate the ideas of the objects which they portray, but only the sounds of their names, and are used purely in a phonetic sense, like the letters of the alphabet. For example, the rebus in figure 14 reads as follows: "I believe Aunt Rose can well bear all for you." The picture of the eye recalls not the idea "eye" but the sound of the word denoting this object, which is also the sound of the word for the first person singular of the {29} personal pronoun I. Again, the picture of a bee does not represent the idea of that insect, but stands for the sound of its name, which used with a leaf indicates the sound "beeleaf," or in other words, "believe."[20]