1893.] -iOl [Brinton. 



and tzontecomatl= a human head cut off, oi*, a skull. The Tzen- 

 tal tox seems to refer to the last-mentioned idea ; it means what 

 is separated, sundered, cut off; hence tox-oghbil, the axe or 

 hatchet ;* q-tox, to split, to divide, cut off (Lara, Vocabulario, 

 MS.). In this it agrees precisely with the Zapotec lana, which 

 the Zapotec Vocabulary renders as a separated part or thing, like 

 a single syllable, word or letter (silaba 6 parte). f 



In this and the previous day-name it is interesting to find the 

 Tzental and Zapotec coinciding, while differing entirely from 

 the other tongues. These analogies have escaped the attention 

 of other students of the subject; and their importance in throw- 

 ing light on ancient ethnic relations is manifest. 



Though the immediate meanings of the various names of the 

 day differ widely, they ai'e clearly connected by the same under- 

 Ijung train of ideas, and indicate unity of origin. 



The Seventh Day. 



1. Maya, manik ; 2. Tzental, moxic ; 3. QaicheCak., queli ; 4. Zapotec, 

 china; 5. Nahiaatl, mazatl. 



The ISTahuatl, the Zapotec and the Quiche-Cak. words are all 

 the ordinary terms for " deer " in those languages (Zap. hi- 

 china). 



The Maya manik, I am persuaded, is derived, as Pio Perez 

 suggested, from the irregular verb mal (mani, manac, as given 

 in the Dice. Motul), to pass by rapidly, to have a quick, restless 

 motion, and ilc, wind, the deer being referred to metaphorically 

 by this characteristic trait.| Dr. Seler's suggestion, that it is a 

 compound of may-iiik, cloven hoof, seems more remote. 



The Tzental moxic offers greater difficulty. It is not easy to 

 accept Seler's suggestion that it is from the Maya maxan., swift, 

 for this is a secondary word in that dialect, compounded of the 

 negative ma, and means "not slow;" it is not likely that it 

 would be used as a stem word in another dialect. According to 

 Guzman, Comj^endio de Nom. en Lengua Gakchiquel, MS. 1704, 



* " Tox, hacha para cortar leiia," different in form from the " hacha para labrar tierra," 

 called bat-zil, to be referred to later. 



t Other meanings of Idna are : the middle ; dark ; flesh or meat ; words ; secretly ; 

 etc. 



X The hieroglyphs of this day sign, both in the Maya and Nahnatl, sometimes contain 

 the elements of the sign of the four winds, as has been pointed out by Dr. Schellhas and 

 Dr. Seler. 



PROG. AMER. PHILOS. 800. XXXI. 142. 2 .T. PRINTED NOV. 18, 1893. 



