The origin and phonetic value of these, as given by the grammarian Torresano, are as follows:[49-1]-- [t] This is called the _tresillo_, from its shape, it being an old form of the figure three, reversed, thus, [Illustration: Reversed 3]. It is the only true guttural in the language, being pronounced forcibly from the throat, with a trilling sound (_castañeteando_). [c] From its shape this is called the _cuatrillo_, Parra having adopted for it an old form of the figure 4. It is a trilled palatal, between a hard _c_ and _k_. [c,] The name applied to this is, the _cuatrillo con coma_, or the 4 with a comma. It is pronounced somewhat like the _c_ with the cedilla, ç, only more quickly and with greater force--_ds_ or _dz_. [tz] This resembles the “4 with a comma,” but is described as softer, the tongue being brought into contact with the teeth, exactly as _tz_ in German. [c,]h A compound sound produced by combining the cuatrillo with a forcible aspirate, is represented by this sign. Naturally, no description in words can convey a correct notion of these sounds. To learn them, one must hear them spoken by those to the manner-born. Dr. Otto Stoll, who recently made a careful study of the Cakchiquel when in Guatemala, says of Parra’s characters:-- “The four new signs added to the European alphabet, by some of the old writers on Cakchiquel (Parra, Flores), viz: [t], [c], [c,], [c]h, are but phonetic modifications of four corresponding signs of the common alphabet. So we get four pairs of sounds, namely:-- c and [c]; k and [t] ch and [c]h tz and [c,] forming two series of consonants, the former of which represents the common letters, and the latter their respective “cut letters,” which may be described as being pronounced with a shorter and more explosive sound than the corresponding common letter, and separated by a short pause from the preceding or following vowel.”[51-1] The late Dr. Berendt illustrated the phonetic value of such “cut” letters, by the example of two English words where the same letter terminates one word and begins the next, and each is clearly but rapidly pronounced, thus, the [t] is pronounced like two gutteral[TN-6] _ks_ in “brea_k_ _k_ettle;” the [c] like the two _cs_ in “magic candle,”[TN-7] etc. There would appear to have been other “cut” letters in the old dialects of Cakchiquel, as in Guzman we find the _pp_ and _thth_, as in the Maya, but later writers dropped them.