Page:The Annals of the Cakchiquels.djvu/205

Rh Nonovalcat, Xuldpit; the first of these names is decidedly Nahuatl, and recurs in the Maya Chronicles. See Introduction, p. 44. The second is clearly of Maya origin. These localities are located by Brasseur on the Laguna de Terminos, near the mouth of the Usumacinta.

20. Having defeated their enemies in the field, the Cakchiquels seized their boats and ventured an attack on the town, in which they were repulsed.

Zuyva; this famous name in Aztec mythology, was also familiar to the Maya tribes. (See The Maya Chronicles, p. 110.) The term ah zuyva seems here employed as a general term for the Nahuatl-speaking nations. (See above, p. 44.)

Caꜭ; I do not find this word in any dictionary; perhaps it is for caꜯ, a variety of wasp.

"When we asked each other," etc. Here follow some fragments of legends, explaining the origin of the names of the tribes. They are quite imaginary.

Tohohil, from tohoh, to resound in the water and the sky (sonar el rio y el ayre, Dicc. Cak. Anon.); not clangor armorum, as Brasseur translates it, but sounds of nature. Tohil was the name of the principal Quiche divinity, and was supposed by Brasseur and Ximenez to be an abbreviated form of Tohohil. But I have given reasons for supposing it to mean "justice," "equity," and this legend was devised to explain it, when its true etymology had become lost. (See my Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths, p. 23.)

Cakix; the bird so called, the Ara macao, of ornithologists, was one of the totemic signs of the Zotzil families of the Cakchiquels. The author here intimates that the name Cakchiquel is from cakix and chi, month, forgetting that he has already derived it from cak chee (Sec. 16).

Chitaꜫah; "in the valley."

Ꜫuꜫcumatz; see notes on Sec. 38.

Ahcic amaꜫ; "the town on high," built on some lofty eminence.

Akahal; the derivation suggested is from akah, a honey-comb or wasp's nest.

Çaker. This is an important word in Xahila's narrative. It is derived from çak, white; hence, çaker, to become white; also, to dawn, to become light; metaphorically, of persons to become enlightened or civilized. The active form, çakericah, means to inform, to acquaint with, to instruct.