204 



MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



represented by more or less conventionalized pictures. 

 The whole word picture is a combination of syllable 

 pictures which indicate phonetically the word as a 



Sffi 



w 



d 



a be 



^ Fig. 75. Variant Forms of Aztecan Day Signs: a, acatl, 

 mazatl, deer foot; c, malinalli, jaw bone; d, itzcuintli, do 

 ozomatli, monkey's ear; /, ocelotl, jaguar's ear. 



/ 



arrow; b, 

 5's ear; e, 



IP WD 



Fig. 76. Aztecan Numbers and Objects of Commerce: a, 1; b, 

 20; c, 400; d, 8,000; e, ten faces carved from precious stone; /, twenty 

 bags of cochineal dye; g, one hundred bales of cocoa; h, four hundred 

 bales of cotton; i, four hundred jars of honey of tuna; j, eight thousand 

 leaf bundles of copal gum; k, twenty baskets each containing sixteen 

 hundred ground cacao nibs; (I) four hundred and two blankets. 



whole. Very often advantage is taken of puns on whole 

 or partial words, while color and position are also em- 

 ployed to indicate sounds and syllables. 



