Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/213

Rh of maize is pecuah (according to Perez), or ppecuah (according to Brasseur). May we not, therefore, with strong probability of being correct, interpret this character as above given—"five tortillas of maize"—supposing it to refer to an offering? If so, then we have three characters, denoting the three words ppec or pec, Pax, and pecuah or ppecuah, in which the double bars occur, which doubtless represent the labial element p, or pp, if they are phonetic. It is worthy of notice, in this connection, that pacach, according to Perez, also signifies "a tortilla of maize," and pakach, "to make tortillas of maize." It is probable, therefore, that pecuah, when spoken, terminated with the sound of ch.

Turning to Plate XXXI, first and second divisions, where the method of planting maize is indicated, we find this character (Fig. 65) forming a part of the head-dress worn. As I have already suggested, this is probably the hieroglyph for the Maya ppoc, "hat" or "head-covering."

Assuming that I am correct in these interpretations, we have then the characters for four words—ppec or pec, Pax, pecuah or ppecuah, and ppoc— in which the two perpendicular bars occur, which, in all probability, represent the labial element p or pp, if they are phonetic. The typical form of the whole character probably represents the syllable p'c or p'ch.

Fig. 66 represents the interlaced or cross-hatched character. The character for Chicchan, as given by Landa, is represented in Fig. 67. In the Manuscript it is most frequently of the form shown in Fig. 68.

These, as will be seen, consist of two parts, the checkered portion and the loops or blocks, and the word of two principal phonetic elements, ch and n.

Referring again to the symbol for Pax(or Pash, as the Maya x has the sound of sh, or ch, in machine), we see that the checkered portion is at the left, while in that for Chicchan it is at the right. As ch is the only phonetic element common to both words, and the cross-hatching the only portion common to both figures, we may assume as probable that this character represents the hissing, or ch, sound of the two words. Turning now to the Maya lexicon, we find that chichan signifies "little," "slender," "thin," &c.; tzi, which has a slightly harder hissing sound, signifies "anything that is