1881.] Old [Brinlon. 



The Names of the Gods in the Kic/ie MytJts, Central America. By Daniel 

 G. Brinton, M.D. 



{Bead before the American Philosophical Society, Noiemher ^, ISSl.) 



Contents. 



The Maya-Kiche stock, and the Kiche-Cakchiquel tribes.— The Nalional legend 

 of the Kiches, the PopoL Ftt/i.— Aids for its study.— Mcanins of its Title.— Bi- 

 sexual Divinities. — Hun-ahpu-vuc-h, the Opossum god.— Hun-ahpu-utiu, the 

 Coyote god.— Totemic worship.— Zaki-nima-tziz, the White Badger. — Nini-ak, 

 the Great Hog — Tepeu, the Syphilitic gud.-Qucuinatz, the Feathered and 

 P.umed — The Heart of the Sky.— The Master of the Green Dish.— The first 

 pair, Xpij'acoc and Xmucane. — The Storm and Earthquake gods; Hiirakan 

 and his Companions. — Invocation to Hnrakan.— Qabuil, the Divinity. — 

 Raxa-nanauac, Nagualismand Noh, the god of Reason.— The tribal gods,Tohil, 

 the Just, Avilix, Hacavitz, etc.— Thi^ myth of Xi)alanqne.— Xiba ba, tlie Un- 

 derworld. — Derivation of Xbalanque. — The Hbalamob of Yucatan. — The 

 Patrons of Arts, Hun-batz and Hnn-choven.— Affinities with Aztec Myths.— 

 Color names in the Myths. — Conclusion. 



Of the ancient races of America, tliose which approaclied the nearest to 

 a civilized condition spolvc related dialects of a tongtte, which from its 

 principal members has been called the "Maja-Kiche" linguistic stock. 

 Even to-day, it is estimated that about half a million persons use these dia- 

 lects. They are scattered over Yucatan. Guatemala and the adjacent ter- 

 ritory, and one branch formerly occupied the hot lowlands on the Gulf 

 of Mexico, north of^era Cruz. 



Of the sixteen difierent dialects into Avhich this stock has been divided, 

 the Maya was considered by that eminent authority, the late Dr. C. H. 

 Berendt, to be the purest example ; although it has also been asserted that 

 the most archaic forms and structure are to be found in the Zakloh-Pakab, 

 otherwise called the Mam, spoken in a portion of the province of Socon- 

 usco and Chiapas, by a tribe which alone of these natives, so far as I knovr, 

 claimed to be autochthonous . The Mam is agglutinative, and its gram- 

 matical structure is complex, traits much less marked in the other mem- 

 bers of the group. 



The so-called "metropolitan" dialects are those spoken relatively near 

 the city of Guatemala, and include the Cakchiquel, the Kiche, the Pokon- 

 chi and the Tzutuhil. They are quite closely allied, and are mutually in- 

 telligible, resembling each otherabottt as much as did in ancient Greece the 

 Attic, Ionic and Doric dialects. These closely related members of the 

 Maya-Kiche family will be referred to under the sub-title of the Kiche- 

 Cakchiqviel dialects. 



There are well defined phonetic laws which have governed the growth 

 of all these dialects, and several of them have been clearly set forth by 

 M. Ilyacinthe de Charencey in a comparative study published some years 

 ago.* In regard to their phonetic system, it may be said that it is charac- 



* Recherches sur les Lois Phoniliques dans Ls Idiomes de la Famille Mame-Huas- 

 tique. Revue de Linguistique, Tome v. 



