356 SIGN LANGUAGE AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
Fig. 119, found in Landa, Relation des Choses de Yucatan, Paris, 1864, 316. 
The Maya word for negation is ‘‘ma,” and the word “mak,” a six-foot 
measuring rod, given by Brasseur de Bourbourg in his dic- 
Oreo tionary, apparently haying connection with this character, 
Fic. 1% would in use separate the hands as illustrated, giving the 
same form as the gesture made without the rod. 
Another sign for nothing, none, made by the Comanches, is: Flat hand 
thrown forward, back to the ground, fingers pointing forward and down- 
ward. Frequently the right hand is brushed over the left thus thrown 
out. 
Compare the Chinese character for the same meaning, Fig. 120. 
This will not be recognized as a hand without study of similar = 
characters, which generally have a cross-line cutting off the 
wrist. Here the wrist bones follow under the cross cut, then 
the metacarpal bones, and last the fingers, pointing 
forward and downward. 
yy The Arapaho sign for child, baby, is the forefinger 
Fic.120. i the mouth, 7. ¢., a nursing child, anda natural sign — Fic. 121. 
of a deaf-mute is the same. The Egyptian figurative character for the 
same is seenin Fig. 121. Its linear form is Fig. 122, and its hieratic is 
Fig. 123 (Champollion, Dictionnaire Egyptien, Paris, 
1841, p. 31.) 
These afford an interpretation to the ancient Chinese 
form for son, Fig. 124, given in Journ. Royal Asiatic 
Fic. 122. Society, 1, 1834, p. 219, as belonging to the Shang dy- 
nasty, 1756, 1112 B. C., and the modern Chinese form, Fig. 125, which, 
without the comparison, would not be supposed to have any pictured ret- 
; erence to an infant with hand or finger at or ap- 
A > ca proaching the mouth, denoting the taking of 
nourishment. Having now suggested this, the 
Fic.124. Fig. 125. Fic. 126. Chinese character for birth, Fig. 126, is under- 
Stood as the expression of a common gesture among the Indians, particu- 
larly reported from the Dakota, for born, to be born, viz: Place the left hand 
in front of the body, a little to the 
right, the palm downward and slightly 
arched, then pass the extended right 
hand downward, forward, and upward, 
forming a short curve underneath the 
left, as in Fig. 127 (Dakota V). This 
is based upon the curve followed by 
the head of the child during birth, 
and is used generically. The same 
curve, when made with one hand, ap- 
pears in Fig. 128. 
It may be of interest to compare with the Chinese child the Mexican 
Fic. 123. 
Jp n~7------=-----% 
Fie. 127. 
