VALUE OF ANCIENT MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS — TOZZEB. 



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. 



Fig. 8. 



Fig. 9. 



(3) By means of position, the syllable pani meaning "over" or "in" (fig. 9). 

 Itz-mi-quil-pan, the obsidian knife over the verdure of the cultivated field,: 

 Itz, from itztli, obsidian knife; 

 Mi from milli, a cultivated field; 

 Quit 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 ail, water; 



Co-coz, the intensified form from coztic, yellow; 1 

 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 



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 



i In the original manuscripts the water is colored yellow. 



3 Another interesting development of the use of a sign where the essential feature is its name rather 

 its significance as a picture is seea 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. 



