Page:The Annals of the Cakchiquels.djvu/55

49 expiration, like the Spanish j, or the strong English h; except when it follows c or Ꜭ, when it is pronounced as in the Spanish, cha, che, etc.

k. This has never the sound of c, but is a rough palatal, the mouth being opened, and the tongue placed midway, between the upper and lower walls of the oral cavity, while the sound is forcibly expelled.

v. This letter, whether as a consonant (v) or a vowel (u), is pronounced separately, except when it is doubled, as in vuh (uuh), book or paper, when the double vowel is very closely akin to the English w.

x. In Cakchiquel and its associated dialects, this letter represents the sound of sh in the English words she, shove, etc.

Besides the above, there are five sounds occurring in the Cakchiquel, Quiche and Tzutuhil, for which five special characters were invented, or rather adopted, by the early missionary Francisco de la Parra, who died in Guatemala, in 1560. They are the following: —

Ꜯ Ꜯh Ꜭ Ꜫ ꜩ

The origin and phonetic value of these, as given by the grammarian Torresano, are as follows: —

Ꜫ This is called the tresillo, from its shape, it being an old form of the figure three, reversed, thus, ꜫ. It is the only true guttural in the language, being pronounced forcibly from the throat, with a trilling sound (castañeteando).

Ꜭ From its shape this is called the cuatrillo, Parra having