Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T07:46:27.129Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Decipherment of “Directional Count Glyphs” in Maya Inscriptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

David Stuart
David Stuart
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Box 6050-B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two “Directional Count Glyphs” have long been recognized as the indicators of backward and forward chronological reckonings in Maya inscriptions. Their traditional decipherment, following early work by Thompson, is founded upon the reading xok, ‘to count’, for one frequent sign in these glyphs. The present study calls this reading into question by suggesting that all ‘count’ glyphs are read u-ti, spelling the verb ut, ‘come to pass’. This decipherment applies to all known contexts of the glyphs.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , Fall 1990, pp. 213 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Barerra, Vásquez Alfredo 1980 Diccionario Maya Cordemex: Maya-Español, Español-Maya. Ediciones Cordemex, Mérida, Yucatán, México.Google Scholar
Baudez, Claude F., and Mathews, Peter 1978 Capture and Sacrifice at Palenque. In Tercera Mesa Redonda de Palenque, Vol. IV, edited by Robertson, Merle G. and Jeffers, Donnan C., pp. 31–40. Pre-Columbian Art Research Center and Herald Printers, Monterey, CA.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1973 The Maya Scribe and His World. The Grolier Club, New York.Google Scholar
Fox, James A., and Justeson, John S. 1984 Polyvalence in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing. In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by Justeson, John S. and Campbell, Lyle, pp. 17–76. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York at Albany, Publication No. 9, Albany.Google Scholar
Goodman, J.T. 1897 The Archaic Maya Inscriptions. Appendix in Biologia Centrali Americana: Archaeology, by Maudslay, A. P.. Taylor and Francis, London.Google Scholar
Gordon, G.B. 1913 The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. University of Pennsylvania Museum Anthropological Publications, vol. V. The University Museum, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Grube, Nikolai 1987 Die errichtung von Stelen: Enttzifferung einer verbhieroglyphe auf monumenten der klassischen Mayakultur. Unpublished manuscript in possession of the author.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen D. 1988 The Phonetic Decípherment of Mayan Glyphs. Antiquity 62:126–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Josserand, Kathryn 1986 The Narrative Structure of Hieroglyphic texts at Palenque. Unpublished manuscript in possession of the author.Google Scholar
Justeson, John S. 1984 Interpretations of Mayan Hieroglyphs. Appendix B in Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by Justeson, John S. and Campbell, Lyle, pp. 315–362. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York at Albany, Publication No. 9, Albany.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Terrence S., and Norman, William M. 1984 An Outline of Proto-Cholan Phonology, Morphology, and Vocabulary. In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by Justeson, John S. and Campbell, Lyle, pp. 77–166. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York at Albany, Publication No. 9, Albany.Google Scholar
Kelley, David H. 1976 Deciphering the Maya Script. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Lounsbury, Floyd G. 1974 The Inscription on the Sarcophagus Lid at Palenque. In Primera Mesa Redonda de Palenque, edited by Robertson, Merle G., vol. I, pp. 5–9. Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pebble Beach.Google Scholar
Mathews, Peter, and Justeson, John S. 1984 Patterns of Sign Substitution in Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: The Affix Cluster. In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by Justeson, John S. and Campbell, Lyle, pp. 185–231. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York at Albany, Publication No. 9, Albany.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda 1982 Maya Glyphs: The Verbs. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Miller, Jeffrey H. 1983 The Mirror, the Rabbit, and the Bundle: “Accession”Expressions from the Classic Maya Inscriptions. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology, 25. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 1985 The Yaxha Emblem Glyph as Yax-ha. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, l. Center for Maya Research, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 1987 Ten Phonetic Syllables. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, 14. Center for Maya Research, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 1988 A Guide to the Style and Content of the Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing. Special Supplement to Research Report 15. Center for Maya Research, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J.E.S. 1943 Maya Epigraphy: Directional Glyphs in Counting. Notes on Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology, No. 20. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Division of Historical Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Thompson, J.E.S. 1944 The Fish as a Symbol for Maya Counting and Further Discussion of Directional Glyphs. Theoretical Approaches to Problems, No. 2. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Division of Historical Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Thompson, J.E.S. 1950 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Ulrich, E.M., and Ulrich, R.D. de 1976 Diccionario Maya Mopán-Español/Español-Maya Mopan. Instituto Lingüistico de Verano, Guatemala.Google Scholar