€ 
1884, 5 (Brinton. 
The origin and phonetic value of these are as follows; 
This is called the tres¢llo, from its shape, it being an old form of 
rd the figure three, reversed, thus, g. It is the only true guttural in 
‘the language being pronounced forcibly from the throat, with a 
trilling sound (castaneteando). 
¥rom its shape this is called the ewatrillo, Parra having adopted for 
it an old form of the figure 4. It is a trilled palatal between a hard 
¢ and k, 
aN 
The name applied to this is the ewatrillo con coma, or the 4 with a 
5 comma, It is pronounced somewhat like the ¢ with the cedilla, (oh 
aN 
only more quickly and with greater foree—ds ordz. 
This resembles the ‘4 with a comma,’’ but is descibed as softer, 
the tongue being brought into contact with the teeth. 
] A compound sound produced by combining the quatrillo with 
4 3 a forcible aspirate is represented by this sign. @ 
Naturally, no description in words can convey any correct notion ot 
these sounds. To learn them, one must hear them spoken by those to the 
manner born. 
Unfortunately, there is no uniformity about the use of Parra’s signs 
among the writers in Cakchiquel. Of the considerable number of 
Cakchiquel. MSS. I have examined, I find scarcely two alike in this 
respect. Most of them use the ¢resdilo and the cwatriilo ; some discard all 
of them; and but few fully carry out the scheme he suggested. The 
writers differed in nicety of ear, and the same word occurs written in more 
than one way. 
In the printed works no special type has been obtained to imitate these 
characters. I have some recent publications from Guatemala in the Kiche 
dialect where the figure three reversed, g, and the figure 4, are employed 
in the type to represent the tresillo and cuatrillo.* Brasseur used a g, and 
introduced hyphens and apostrophes in his editions of Kiche writings, but 
these were all foreign to his original manuscripts, and cannot therefore be 
approved by exact scholarship. 
I think there are sound objections to using Arabic numerals to express 
*T refer to some songs, etc., in Kiche, published in Hl Federal Indiano, Quin- 
cenario de antiguedades hist6ricas, costumbres indigenas i jeneralidades, published 
at Totonicapam, 1888, by the eminent Guatemalan linguist and antiquary, 
Sefior Don Manuel G, Elgueta. 
