MORLEY] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEEOGLYPHS 



71 



d e 



Fig. 31. Signs for the iiinal: o-c, 

 variants 



Normal forms; d-f, bead 



Sometimes the subfixial element (J J) is omitted in the inscrip- 

 tions, as in figm-e 31, a. The head variant of the uinal glyph (fig. jj 

 31, d-f) is the most constant of all of the head forms for the various 

 periods. Its detemiinuig characteristic is the large curl emerging from 

 the back part of the mouth. The sharp-pomted teeth m the upper 

 jaw are also a fairly constant feature. In very rare cases both of these 



elements are wantmg. In ^^^^ 



such cases the glyi^h seems f^:^'^ f^^^^ 



to be without determining 

 characteristics. The ani- 

 mal represented in the full- 

 figure variants of the uinal 

 is that of a frog (fig. 32,) 

 the head of which presents 

 precisely the same char- 

 acteristics as the head vari- 

 ants of the uinal, just de- 

 scribed. That the head 

 variant of the umal-period 

 glyph was origuially de- 

 rived from the representation of a frog can hardly be denied in the 

 face of such striking confirmatory evidence as that afforded by the 

 full-figure form of the umal in figure 33. Here the spotted body, 

 flattened head, prominent mouth, and bulging eyes of the frog are so 

 reahstically portrayed that there is no 

 doubt as to the identity of the figure in- 

 tended. Mr. Bowditch (1910: p. 257) has 

 pointed out in this connection an inter- 



FiG.32. Full-figure variant of uinal sign Cstiug phouetic COUlcidenCC, wMch Can 



onZo6morphB,Qiiirigua. hardly be other than mtentional. The 



Maya word for frog is uo, which is a fairly close phonetic approxi- 

 mation of -w, the Maya word for "moon" or "month." Consequently, 

 the Maya may have selected the figure of the frog on phonetic grounds 

 to represent their 20-day period. If tliis point could be 

 estabhshed it would indicate an unmistakable use of the 

 rebus form of writing employed by the Aztec. That is, 

 the figure of a frog m the uinal-period glyph would not 

 recall the object which it pictures, but the sound of that 

 object's name, uo^ approximating the somid of u, which 

 in turn expressed the intended idea, namely, the 20-day 

 period, Mr. Bowditch has suggested also that the gro- 

 tesque birds which stand for the cycle, katun, and tun periods in 

 these full-figure forms may also have been chosen because of the 

 phonetic similarity of their names to the names of these periods. 



Full- 

 figure variant 

 of uinal sign 

 on Stela D, Co- 

 pan. 



