200 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
is cut down by the elimination of #l, te, etc., that form 
the nominal endings. ‘Thus, the picture of water, atl, 
becomes the sign for the sound a, that of stone tefl is 
=n FH) aes 8 @ 
73. Variant Forms of Aztecan Day Signs: a, acatl, arrow; b, 
mazatl, deer foot; c, malinalli, jaw bone; d, itzcuintli, dog’s ear; e, 
ozomatli, monkey’s ear; f, ocelotl, jaguar’s ear. 
~> 
ty 
O5 aes | 
+, 
~*% 
; MALL EA 
pee 
x. 
wr 
m4 ~WaAANS* ~ 
> 
) 
A) 
s 
| 
. 
Fig. 74. Aztecan Numbers and Objects of Commerce: a, 1; 
b, 20; c, 400; d, 8,000; e, ten faces carved from precious stone; 
f, twenty bags of cochineal dye; g, one hundred bales of cocoa; 
h, four hundred bales of cotton; 7, four hundred jars of honey of 
tuna; 7, eight thousand leaf bundles of copal gum; k, twenty 
baskets each containing sixteen hundred ground cacao nibs; (I) 
four hundred and two blankets. 
cut down to the syllable te. Several of these syllable 
pictures are combined to represent a whole word. 
