VALUE OF ANCIENT MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS—TOZZER. 501 
(2) By means of the representation of a river or canal, apantli (fig. 8) 
Coapan, the river of the serpent: 
Coa, from coatl, serpent; 
Pan, from apantli, a river or canal. 
Siiele\omea a kavs: 
CUNO TI Oke URE UE ie Sate ee 
Fie. 8. Fig. 9. 
(3) By means of position, the syllable pani meaning ‘‘over” or ‘‘in” (fig. 9). 
Ttz-mi-quil-pan, the obsidian knife over the verdure of the cultivated field: 
Itz, from itztli, obsidian knife; 
Mi from milli, a cultivated field; 
Quil from quilitl, verdure; 
Pan from pani, over. 
The color of the picture also has a phonetic significance in some 
cases, as (fig. 10)— 
A-co-coz-pan, the canal of the very yellow water: 
A from atl, water; 
Co-coz, the intensified form from coztic, yellow; ! 
Pan from apan, river or canal. 
In all these examples the meaning of the picture is conveyed at the 
same time as the sound.2 The name is not made up of signs used 
simply for their phonetic value alone, but the meaning is expressed 
Ryle (Ore Ae) 
(6) 
Fig. 10. Fig. 11. 
by the signs as well. The town of the “very yellow water” undoubt- 
edly derived its name from the fact that it was situated on the bank 
of a muddy stream. We note the river and the yellow water in the 
original drawing, as well as the sides of the stream. 
The true phonetic stage is not reached until signs are used without 
regard to their meaning as pictures but simply for their phonetic 
Mipiay sere tes Cee ir ere ies och el) ieee ei 
1 In the original manuscripts the water is colored yellow. 
2 Another interesting development of the use of a sign where the essential feature is its name rather 
its significance as a picture is seen in the character for the day Ollin (fig. 11). The word means ‘rolling 
motion’? and is used not only to designate this day in the series of 20 days, but is found again and again in 
the historical records to indicate the occurrence of an earthquake. 
