Day Symbols of the Maya Year: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-1895, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 199-266.Thomas, Cyrus
Religion
Day Symbols of the Maya Year: Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1894-1895, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1897, pages 199-266.
Thomas, Cyrus
Maya calendar
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 stitching 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 principal Quiche
deity, and appears to have been the god of thunder and rain, and, as
Seler presumes, was the representative in these nations of the Maya Chac
and Mexican Tlaloc. According to Brasseur, _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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account