Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed
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Transcriber's Note
A number of typographical errors and inconsistencies have been
maintained in this version of this book. They have been marked with a
[TN-#], which refers to a description in the complete list found at the
end of the text. One error that was corrected is also listed at the end
of the text.
Oe ligatures used in the original text have been expanded. The following
codes are used for characters that are not able to be represented in the
text format used for this version of the book.
[c] small open o
[C] capital open o
[=h] h with stroke
[)o] o with breve
[)u] u with breve
[k] tresillo
LIBRARY
OF
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN
LITERATURE.
No. 1.
EDITED BY
D. G. BRINTON
BRINTON'S LIBRARY OF
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE.
NUMBER 1.
THE
MAYA CHRONICLES.
EDITED BY
DANIEL G. BRINTON
AMS PRESS
NEW YORK
Reprinted from the edition of 1882, Philadelphia
First AMS EDITION published 1969
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 70-83457
AMS PRESS, INC.
New York, N.Y. 10003
TO THE MEMORY
OF
CARL HERMANN BERENDT, M.D.,
WHOSE LONG AND EARNEST DEVOTION TO THE ETHNOLOGY
AND LINGUISTICS OF AMERICA HAS MADE THIS WORK
POSSIBLE, AND WHOSE UNTIMELY DEATH HAS
LOST TO AMERICAN SCHOLARS RESULTS
OF FAR GREATER IMPORTANCE,
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
The belief that the only solid foundation for the accurate study of
American ethnology and linguistics must be in the productions of the
native mind in their original form has led me to the venturesome
undertaking of which this is the first issue. The object of the proposed
series of publications is to preserve permanently a number of rude
specimens of literature composed by the members of various American
tribes, and exhibiting their habits of thought, modes of expressions,
intellectual range and aesthetic faculties.
Whether the literary and historical value of these monuments is little
or great, they merit the careful attention of all who would weigh and
measure the aboriginal mind, and estimate its capacities correctly.
The neglect of this field of study is largely owing to a deficiency of
material for its pursuit. Genuine specimens of native literature are
rare, and almost or quite inaccessible. They remain in manuscript in the
hands of a few collectors, or, if printed, they are in forms not
convenient to obtain, as in the ponderous transactions of learned
societies, or in privately printed works. My purpose is to gather
together from these sources a dozen volumes of moderate size and
reasonable price, and thus to put the material within the reach of
American and European scholars.
Now that the first volume is ready, I see in it much that can be
improved upon in subsequent issues. I must ask for it an indulgent
criticism, for the novelty of the undertaking and its inherent
difficulties have combined to make it less finished and perfected than
it should have been.
If the series meets with a moderate encouragement, it will be continued
at the rate of two or three volumes of varying size a year, and will, I
think, prove ultimately of considerable service to the students of man
in his simpler conditions of life and thought, especially of American
man.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Sec. 1. The Name Maya, p. 9. Sec. 2. The Maya Linguistic Family, p. 17.
Sec. 3. Origin of the Maya Tribes, p. 20. Sec. 4. Political Condition at
the Time of the Conquest, p. 25. Sec. 5. Grammatical Observations, p. 27.
Sec. 6. The Numeral System, p. 37. Sec. 7. The Calendar, p. 50. Sec. 8. Ancient
Hieroglyphic Books, p. 61. Sec. 9. Modern Maya Manuscripts, p. 67.
Sec. 10. Grammars and Dictionaries, p. 72.
THE CHRONICLES.
INTRODUCTORY p. 81
I. The Series of the Katuns, p. 89. Text, p. 95. Translation,
p. 100. Notes, p. 106.
II. The Series of the Katuns, p. 136. Text, p. 138. Translation,
p. 144. Notes, p. 150.
III. The Record of the Count of the Katuns, p. 152. Text, p. 153.
Translation, p. 158. Notes, p. 163.
IV. The Maya Katuns, p. 165. Text, p. 166. Translation, p. 169.
Notes, p. 173.
V. The Chief Katuns, p. 177. Text, p. 178. Translation, p. 180.
Notes, p. 182.
THE CHRONICLE OF CHAC XULUB CHEN.
Introductory, p. 189. Text, p. 193. Translation, p. 216. Notes,
p. 242.
VOCABULARY p. 261
I.
INTRODUCTION.
CONTENTS.
1. THE NAME "MAYA." 2. THE MAYA LINGUISTIC FAMILY. 3. ORIGIN OF THE MAYA
TRIBES. 4. POLITICAL CONDITION AT THE TIME OF THE CONQUEST. 5.
GRAMMATICAL OBSERVATIONS. 6. THE NUMERAL SYSTEM. 7. THE CALENDAR. 8.
ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHIC BOOKS. 9. MODERN MAYA MANUSCRIPTS. 10. GRAMMARS AND
DICTIONARIES OF THE LANGUAGE.
Sec. 1. _The Name "Maya."_
In his second voyage, Columbus heard vague rumors of a mainland westward
from Jamaica and Cuba, at a distance of ten days' journey in a
canoe.[9-1] Its inhabitants were said to be clothed, and the specimens
of wax which were found among the Cubans must have been brought from
there, as they themselves did not know how to prepare it.
During his fourth voyage (1503-4), when he was exploring the Gulf
southwest from Cuba, he picked up a canoe laden with cotton clothing
variously dyed. The natives in it gave him to understand that they were
merchants, and came from a land called MAIA.[10-1]
This is the first mention in history of the territory now called
Yucatan, and of the race of the Mayas; for although a province of
similar name was found in the western extremity of the island of Cuba,
the similarity was accidental, as the evidence is conclusive that no
colony of the Mayas was found on the Antilles.[10-2] These islands were
peopled by a wholly different stock, the remnants of whose language
prove them to have been the northern outposts of the Arawacks of Guiana,
and allied to the great Tupi-Guaranay stem of South America.
MAYA was the patrial name of the natives of Yucatan. It was the proper
name of the northern portion of the peninsula. No single province bore
it at the date of the Conquest, and probably it had been handed down as
a generic term from the period, about a century before, when this whole
district was united under one government.
The natives of all this region called themselves _Maya uinic_, Maya men,
or _ah Mayaa_, those of Maya; their language was _Maya than_, the Maya
speech; a native woman was _Maya c[=h]uplal_; and their ancient capital
was _Maya pan_, the MAYA banner, for there of old was set up the
standard of the nation, the elaborately worked banner of brilliant
feathers, which, in peace and in war, marked the rallying point of the
Confederacy.
We do not know where they drew the line from others speaking the same
tongue. That it excluded the powerful tribe of the Itzas, as a recent
historian thinks,[12-1] seems to be refuted by the documents I bring
forward in the present volume; that, on the other hand, it did not
include the inhabitants of the southwestern coast appears to be
indicated by the author of one of the oldest and most complete
dictionaries of the language. Writing about 1580, when the traditions of
descent were fresh, he draws a distinction between the _lengua de Maya_
and the _lengua de Campeche_.[12-2] The latter was a dialect varying
very slightly from pure Maya, and I take it, this manner of indicating
the distinction points to a former political separation.
The name Maya is also found in the form _Mayab_, and this is asserted by
various Yucatecan scholars of the present generation, as Pio Perez,
Crescencio Carrillo, and Eligio Ancona, to be the correct ancient form,
while the other is but a Spanish corruption.[13-1]
But this will not bear examination. All the authorities, native as well
as foreign, of the sixteenth century, write _Maya_. It is impossible to
suppose that such laborious and earnest students as the author of the
Dictionary of Motul, as the grammarian and lexicographer Gabriel de San
Buenaventura, and as the educated natives whose writings I print in this
volume, could all have fallen into such a capital blunder.[13-2]
The explanation I have to offer is just the reverse. The use of the
terminal _b_ in "Mayab" is probably a dialectic error, other examples of
which can be quoted. Thus the writer of the Dictionary of Motul informs
us that the form _maab_ is sometimes used for the ordinary negative
_ma_, no; but, he adds, it is a word of the lower classes, _es palabra
de gente comun_. So I have little doubt but that _Mayab_ is a vulgar
form of the word, which may have gradually gained ground.
As at present used, the accent usually falls on the first syllable,
_Ma'ya_, and the best old authorities affirm this as a rule; but it is a
rule subject to exceptions, as at the end of a sentence and in certain
dialects Dr. Berendt states that it is not infrequently heard as
_Ma'ya'_ or even _Maya'_.[14-1]
The meaning and derivation of the word have given rise to the usual
number of nonsensical and far-fetched etymologies. The Greek, the
Sanscrit, the ancient Coptic and the Hebrew have all been called in to
interpret it. I shall refer to but a few of these profitless
suggestions.
The Abbe Brasseur (de Bourbourg) quotes as the opinion of Don Ramon de
Ordonez, the author of a strange work on American archaeology, called
_History of the Heaven and the Earth_, that _Maya_ is but an
abbreviation of the phrase _ma ay ha_, which, the Abbe adds, means word
for word, _non adest aqua_, and was applied to the peninsula on account
of the scarcity of water there.[15-1]
Unfortunately that phrase has no such, nor any, meaning in Maya; were it
_ma yan haa_, it would have the sense he gives it; and further, as the
Abbe himself remarked in a later work, it is not applicable to Yucatan,
where, though rivers are scarce, wells and water abound. He therefore
preferred to derive it from _ma_ and _ha_, which he thought he could
translate either "Mother of the Water," or "Arm of the Land!"[15-2]
The latest suggestion I have noticed is that of Eligio Ancona, who,
claiming that _Mayab_ is the correct form, and that this means "not
numerous," thinks that it was applied to the first native settlers of
the land, on account of the paucity of their numbers![15-3]
All this seems like learned trifling. The name may belong to that
ancient dialect from which are derived many of the names of the days and
months in the native calendar, and which, as an esoteric language, was
in use among the Maya priests, as was also one among the Aztecs of
Mexico. Instances of this, in fact, are very common among the American
aborigines, and no doubt many words were thus preserved which could not
be analyzed to their radicals through the popular tongue.
Or, if it is essential to find a meaning, why not accept the obvious
signification of the name? _Ma_ is the negative "no," "not;" _ya_ means
rough, fatiguing, difficult, painful, dangerous. The compound _maya_ is
given in the Dictionary of Motul with the translations "not arduous nor
severe; something easy and not difficult to do;" _cosa no grave ni
recia; cosa facil y no dificultosa de hacer_. It was used adjectively as
in the phrase, _maya u chapahal_, his sickness is not dangerous. So they
might have spoken of the level and fertile land of Yucatan, abounding in
fruit and game, that land to which we are told they delighted to give,
as a favorite appellation, the term _u luumil ceh, u luumil cutz_, the
land of the deer, the land of the wild turkey; of this land, I say, they
might well have spoken as of one not fatiguing, not rough nor
exhausting.
Sec. 2. _The Maya Linguistic Family._
Whatever the primitive meaning and first application of the name Maya,
it is now used to signify specifically the aborigines of Yucatan. In a
more extended sense, in the expression "the Maya family," it is
understood to embrace all tribes, wherever found, who speak related
dialects presumably derived from the same ancient stock as the Maya
proper.
Other names for this extended family have been suggested, as Maya-Kiche,
Mam-Huastec, and the like, compounded of the names of two or more of the
tribes of the group. But this does not appear to have much advantage
over the simple expression I have given, though "Maya-Kiche" may be
conveniently employed to prevent confusion.
These affiliated tribes are, according to the investigations of Dr. Carl
Hermann Berendt, the following:--
1. The Maya proper, including the Lacandons.
2. The Chontals of Tabasco, on and near the coast west of the mouth
of the Usumacinta.
3. The Tzendals, south of the Chontals.
4. The Zotzils, south of the Tzendals.
5. The Chaneabals, south of the Zotzils.
6. The Chols, on the upper Usumacinta.
7. The Chortis, near Copan.
8. The Kekchis, and
9. The Pocomchis, in Vera Paz.
10. The Pocomams. }
11. The Mams. }
12. The Kiches. }
13. The Ixils. } In or bordering on Guatemala.
14. The Cakchiquels. }
15. The Tzutuhils. }
16. The Huastecs, on the Panuco river and its tributaries, in Mexico.
The languages of these do not differ more, in their extremes, than the
French, Spanish, Italian and other tongues of the so-called Latin races;
while a number resemble each other as closely as the Greek dialects of
classic times.
What lends particular importance to the study of this group of languages
is that it is that which was spoken by the race in several respects the
most civilized of any found on the American continent. Copan, Uxmal and
Palenque are names which at once evoke the most earnest interest in the
mind of every one who has ever been attracted to the subject of the
archaeology of the New World. This race, moreover, possessed an abundant
literature, preserved in written books, in characters which were in some
degree phonetic. Enough of these remain to whet, though not to satisfy,
the curiosity of the student.
The total number of Indians of pure blood speaking the Maya proper may
be estimated as nearly or quite 200,000, most of them in the political
limits of the department of Yucatan; to these should be added nearly
100,000 of mixed blood, or of European descent, who use the tongue in
daily life.[19-1] For it forms one of the rare examples of American
languages possessing vitality enough not only to maintain its own
ground, but actually to force itself on European settlers and supplant
their native speech. It is no uncommon occurrence in Yucatan, says Dr.
Berendt, to find whole families of pure white blood who do not know one
word of Spanish, using the Maya exclusively. It has even intruded on
literature, and one finds it interlarded in books published in Merida,
very much as lady novelists drop into French in their imaginative
effusions.[20-1]
The number speaking the different dialects of the stock are roughly
estimated at half a million, which is probably below the mark.
Sec. 3. _Origin of the Maya Tribes._
The Mayas did not claim to be autochthones. Their legends referred to
their arrival by the sea from the East, in remote times, under the
leadership of Itzamna, their hero-god, and also to a less numerous,
immigration from the west, from Mexico, which was connected with the
history of another hero-god, Kukul Can.
The first of these appears to be wholly mythical, and but a repetition
of the story found among so many American tribes, that their ancestors
came from the distant Orient. I have elsewhere explained this to be but
a solar or light myth.[20-2]
The second tradition deserves more attention from the historian, as it
is supported by some of their chronicles and by the testimony of several
of the most intelligent natives of the period of the conquest, which I
present on a later page of this volume.
It cannot be denied that the Mayas, the Kiches and the Cakchiquels, in
their most venerable traditions, claimed to have migrated from the north
or west, from some part of the present country of Mexico.
These traditions receive additional importance from the presence on the
shores of the Mexican Gulf, on the waters of the river Panuco, north of
Vera Cruz, of a prominent branch of the Maya family, the _Huastecs_. The
idea suggests itself that these were the rearguard of a great migration
of the Maya family from the north toward the south.
Support is given to this by their dialect, which is most closely akin to
that of the Tzendals of Tabasco, the nearest Maya race to the south of
them, and also by very ancient traditions of the Aztecs.
It is noteworthy that these two partially civilized races, the Mayas and
the Aztecs, though differing radically in language, had legends which
claimed a community of origin in some indefinitely remote past. We find
these on the Maya side narrated in the sacred book of the Kiches, the
_Popol Vuh_, in the Cakchiquel _Records of Tecpan Atitlan_, and in
various pure Maya sources which I bring forward in this volume. The
Aztec traditions refer to the Huastecs, and a brief analysis of them
will not be out of place.
At a very remote period the Mexicans, under their leader Mecitl, from
whom they took their name, arrived in boats at the mouth of the river
Panuco, at the place called Panotlan, which name means "where one
arrives by sea." With them were the Olmecs under their leader Olmecatl,
the Huastecs, under their leader Huastecatl, the Mixtecs and others.
They journeyed together and in friendship southward, down the coast,
quite to the volcanoes of Guatemala, thence to Tamoanchan, which is
described as the terrestial[TN-1] paradise, and afterwards, some of them
at least, northward and eastward, toward the shores of the Gulf.
On this journey the intoxicating beverage made from the maguey, called
_octli_ by the Aztecs, _cii_ by the Mayas, and _pulque_ by the
Spaniards, was invented by a woman whose name was _Mayauel_, in which we
can scarcely err in recognizing the national appellation _Maya_.[23-1]
Furthermore, the invention is closely related to the history of the
Huastecs. Their leader, alone of all the chieftains, drank to excess,
and in his drunkenness threw aside his garments and displayed his
nakedness. When he grew sober, fear and shame impelled him to collect
all those who spoke his language, and leaving the other tribes, he
returned to the neighborhood of Panuco and settled there
permanently.[23-2]
The annals of the Aztecs contain frequent allusions to the Huastecs. The
most important contest between the two nations took place in the reign
of Montezuma the First (1440-1464). The attack was made by the Aztecs,
for the alleged reason that the Huastecs had robbed and killed Aztec
merchants on their way to the great fairs in Guatemala. The Huastecs are
described as numerous, dwelling in walled towns, possessing quantities
of maize, beans, feathers and precious stones, and painting their faces.
They were signally defeated by the troops of Montezuma, but not reduced
to vassalage.[24-1]
At the time of the Conquest the province of the Huastecs was densely
peopled; "none more so under the sun," remarks the Augustinian friar
Nicolas de Witte, who visited it in 1543; but even then he found it
almost deserted and covered with ruins, for, a few years previous, the
Spaniards had acted towards its natives with customary treachery and
cruelty. They had invited all the chiefs to a conference, had enticed
them into a large wooden building, and then set fire to it and burned
them alive. When this merciless act became known the Huastecs deserted
their villages and scattered among the forests and mountains.[24-2]
These traditions go to show that the belief among the Aztecs was that
the tribes of the Maya family came originally from the north or
northeast, and were at some remote period closely connected with their
own ancestors.
Sec. 4. _Political Condition at the Time of the Conquest._
When the Spaniards first explored the coasts of Yucatan they found the
peninsula divided into a number of independent petty states. According
to an authority followed by Herrera, these were eighteen in number.
There is no complete list of their names, nor can we fix with certainty
their boundaries. The following list gives their approximate position.
On the west coast, beginning at the south--
1. _Acalan_, on the Bahia de Terminos.
2. _Tixchel_ (or Telchac?)
3. _Champoton_ (Chakanputun, or Potonchan).
4. _Kinpech_ (Campech or Campeche).
5. _Canul_ (Acanul or H' Canul).
6. _Hocabaihumun._
7. _Cehpech_, in which Merida was founded.
8. _Zipatan_, on the northwest coast.
On the east coast, beginning at the north--
9. _Choaca_, near Cape Cotoche.
10. _Ekab_, opposite the Island of Cozumel.
11. _Conil_, or of the Cupuls.[TN-3]
13. _Bakhalal_, or Bacalar.
14. _Chetemal._
15. _Taitza_, the Peten district.
Central provinces--
16. _H' Chel_ (or Ah Kin Chel) in which Itzamal
was located.
17. _Zotuta_, of the Cocoms.
18. _Mani_, of the Xius.
19. _Cochuah_ (or Cochva, or Cocola), the principal
town of which was Ichmul.
As No. 15, the Peten district, was not conquered by the Spaniards until
1697, it was doubtless not included in the list drawn up by Herrera's
authority, so that the above would correspond with his statement.
Each of these provinces was ruled by a hereditary chief, who was called
_batab_, or _batabil uinic_ (_uinic_=man). He sometimes bore two names,
the first being that of his mother, the second of his father, as _Can
Ek_, in which _Can_ was from the maternal, _Ek_ from the paternal line.
The surname (_kaba_) descended through the male. It was called _hach
kaba_, the true name, or _hool kaba_, the head name. Much attention was
paid to preserving the genealogy, and the word for "of noble birth" was
_ah kaba_, "he who has a name."
Each village of a province was organized under a ruler, who was styled
_halach uinic_, the true or real man. Frequently he was a junior member
of the reigning family. He was assisted by a second in command, termed
_ah kulel_, as a lieutenant, and various subordinate officials, whose
duties will be explained in the notes to Nakuk Pech's narrative.
Personal tenure of land did not exist. The town lands were divided out
annually among the members of the community, as their wants required,
the consumption of each adult being calculated at twenty loads (of a
man) of maize each year, this being the staple food.[27-1]
Sec. 5. _Grammatical Observations._
Compared with many American languages, the Maya is simple in
construction. It is analytic rather than synthetic; most of its roots
are monosyllables or dissyllables, and the order of their arrangement is
very similar to that in English. It has been observed that foreigners,
coming to Yucatan, ignorant of both Spanish and Maya, acquire a
conversational knowledge of the latter more readily than of the
former.[28-1]
An examination of the language explains this. Neither nouns nor
adjectives undergo any change for gender, number or case. Before animate
nouns the gender may be indicated by the prefixes _ah_ and _ix_,
equivalent to the English _he_ and _she_ in such expressions as
_he-bear_, _she-bear_. The plural particle is _ob_, which can be
suffixed to animate nouns, but is in fact the third person plural of the
personal pronoun.
The conjugations of the verbs are four in number. All passives and
neuters end in _l_, and also a certain number of active verbs; these
form the first conjugation, while the remaining three are of active
verbs only. The time-forms of the verb are three, the present, the
aorist, and the future. Taking the verb _nacal_, to ascend, these forms
are _nacal_, _naci_, _nacac_. The present indicative is:--
Nacal in cah, I ascend.
Nacal a cah, thou ascendest.
Nacal u cah, he ascends.
Nacal c cah, we ascend.
Nacal a cah ex, you ascend.
Nacal u cah ob, they ascend.
When this form is analyzed, we discover that _in_, _a_, _u_, _c_,
_a-ex_, _u-ob_, are personal possessive pronouns, my, thy, his, our,
your, their; and that _nacal_ and _cah_ are in fact verbal nouns
standing in apposition. _Cah_, which is the sign of the present tense,
means the doing, making, being occupied or busy at something. Hence
_nacal in cah_, I ascend, is literally "the ascent, my being occupied
with." The imperfect tense is merely the present with the additional
verbal noun _cuchi_ added, as--
Nacal in cah cuchi, I was ascending.
Nacal a cah cuchi, Thou wast ascending.
etc.
_Cuchi_ means carrying on, bearing along, and the imperfect may thus be
rendered:--
"The ascent, my being occupied with, carrying on."
This is what has been called by Friedrich Mueller the "possessive
conjugation," the pronoun used being not in the nominative but in the
possessive form.
The aorist presents a different mode of formation:--
Nac-en, (i.e. Naci-en) I ascended.
Nac-ech, Thou ascended.
Naci, He ascended.
Nac-on, We ascended.
Nac-ex, You ascended.
Nac-ob, They ascended.
Here _en_, _ech_, _on_, _ex_, are apparently the simple personal
pronouns I, thou, we, you, and are used predicatively. The future is
also conjugated in this form by the use of the verbal _bin_, _binel_, to
go:
Bin nacac en, I am going to ascend.
Bin nacac ech, Thou art going to ascend.
etc.
The present of all the active verbs uses this predicative form, while
their aorists and futures employ possessive forms. Thus:--
Ten cambezic, I teach him.
Tech cambezic, Thou teaches him.
Lay cambezic, He teaches him.
Here, however, I must note a difference of opinion between eminent
grammatical critics. Friedrich Mueller considers all such forms as--
Nac-en, I ascended,
to exhibit "the predicative power of the true verb," basing his opinion
on the analogy of such expressions as--
Ten batab en, I (am) a chief.[31-1]
M. Lucien Adam, on the other hand, says:--"The intransitive preterit
_nac-en_ may seem morphologically the same as the Aryan _as-mi_; but
here again, _nac_ is a verbal noun, as is demonstrated by the plural of
the third person _nac-ob_, 'the ascenders.' _Nac-en_ comes to mean
'ascender [formerly] me.'"[31-2]
I am inclined to think that the French critic is right, and that, in
fact, there is no true verb in the Maya, but merely verbal nouns,
_nomina actionis_, to which the pronouns stand either in the possessive
or objective relations, or, more remotely, in the possessive relation to
another verbal noun in apposition, as _cah_, _cuchi_, etc. The
importance of this point in estimating the structure of the language
will be appreciated by those who have paid any attention to the science
of linguistics.
The objective form of the conjugation is composed of the simple personal
pronouns of both persons, together with the possessive of the agent and
the particle _ci_, which conveys the accessory notion of present action
towards. Thus, from _moc_, to tie:--
Ten c in moc ech, I tie thee,
literally, I my present tying thee.
These refinements of analysis have, of course, nothing to do with the
convenience of the language for practical purposes. As it has no dual,
no inclusive and exclusive plurals, no articles nor substantive verb, no
transitions, and few irregular verbs, its forms are quickly learned. It
is not polysynthetic, at any rate, not more so than French, and its
words undergo no such alteration by agglutination as in Aztec and
Algonkin. Syncopated forms are indeed common, but to no greater extent
than in colloquial English. The unit of the tongue remains the word, not
the sentence, and we find no immeasurable words, expressing in
themselves a whole paragraph, such as grammarians like to quote from the
Eskimo, Aztec, Qquichua and other highly synthetic languages.
The position of words in a sentence is not dissimilar from that in
English. The adjective precedes the noun it qualifies, and sentences
usually follow the formula, subject--verbal--object. Thus:--
_Hemac cu yacuntic Diose, utz uinic._
He who loves God, [is] good man.
But transposition is allowable, as--
_Taachili u tzicic u yum uinic._
Generally obeys his father, a man.
As shown in this last example, the genitive relation is indicated by the
possessive pronoun, as it sometimes was in English, "John, his book;"
but the Maya is "his book John," _u huun Juan_.
Another method which is used for indicating the genitive and ablative
relations is the termination _il_. This is called "the determinative
ending," and denotes whose is the object named, or of what. It is
occasionally varied to _al_ and _el_, to correspond to the last
preceding vowel, but this "vocalic echo" is not common in Maya. While it
denotes use, it does not convey the idea of ownership. Thus, _u c[=h]een
in yum_, my father's well, means the well that belongs to my father; but
_c[=h]enel in yum_, my father's well, means the well from which he
obtains water, but in which he has no proprietorship. Material used is
indicated by this ending, as _xanil na_, a house of straw (_xan_, straw,
_na_, house).
Compound words are frequent, but except occasional syncope, the members
of the compound undergo no change. There is little resembling the
incapsulation (_emboitement_) that one sees in most American languages.
Thus, midnight, _chumucakab_, is merely a union of _chumuc_, middle, and
_akab_, night; dawn, _ahalcab_, is _ahal_, to awaken, _cab_, the world.
While from the above brief sketch it will be seen that the Maya is free
from many of the difficulties which present themselves in most American
tongues, it is by no means devoid of others.
In its _phonetics_, it possesses six elements which to the Spaniards
were new. They are represented by the signs:
c[=h], k, pp, t[=h], tz, [c].
Of these the c[=h] resembles dch, pronounced forcibly; the [c] is as dz;
the pp is a forcible double p; and in the t[=h] the two letters are to
be pronounced separately and forcibly. There remains the _k_ which is
the most difficult of all. It is a sort of palato-guttural, the only one
in the language, and its sound can only be acquired by long practice.
The _particles_ are very numerous, and make up the life of the language.
By them are expressed the relations of space and time, and all the finer
shades of meaning. Probably no one not to the manor born could render
correctly their full force. Buenaventura, in his Grammar, enumerates
sixteen different significations of the particle _il_.[35-1]
The elliptical and obscure style adopted by most native writers, partly
from ignorance of the art of composition, partly because they imitated
the mystery in expression affected by their priests, forms a serious
obstacle even to those fairly acquainted with the current language.
Moreover, the older manuscripts contain both words and forms unfamiliar
to a cultivated Yucatecan of to-day.
I must, however, not omit to contradict formally an assertion made by
the traveler Waldeck, and often repeated, that the language has
undergone such extensive changes that what was written a century ago is
unintelligible to a native of to-day. So far is this from the truth
that, except for a few obsolete words, the narrative of the Conquest,
written more than three hundred years ago, by the chief Pech, which I
print in this volume, could be read without much difficulty by any
educated native.
Again, as in all languages largely monosyllabic, there are many
significations attached to one word, and these often widely different.
Thus _kab_ means, a hand; a handle; a branch; sap; an offence; while
_cab_ means the world; a country; strength; honey; a hive; sting of an
insect; juice of a plant; and, in composition, promptness. It will be
readily understood that cases will occur where the context leaves it
doubtful which of these meanings is to be chosen.
These _homonyms_ and _paronyms_, as they are called by grammarians,
offer a fine field for sciolists in philology, wherein to discover
analogies between the Maya and other tongues, and they have been
vigorously culled out for that purpose. All such efforts are
inconsistent with correct methods in linguistics. The folly of the
procedure may be illustrated by comparing the English and the Maya. I
suppose no one will pretend that these languages, at any rate in their
present modern forms, are related. Yet the following are but a few of
the many verbal similarities that could be pointed out:--
MAYA. ENGLISH.
bateel, battle.
c[=h]ab, to grab, to take.
hol, hole.
hun, one.
lum, loam.
pol, poll (head).
potum, a pot.
pul, to pull, carry.
tun, stone.
So with the Latin we could find such similarities as _volah_=volo,
_[c]a_=dare, etc.
In fact, no relationship of the Maya linguistic group to any other has
been discovered. It contains a number of words borrowed from the Aztec
(Nahuatl); and the latter in turn presents many undoubtedly borrowed
from the Maya dialects. But this only goes to show that these two great
families had long and close relations; and that we already know, from
their history, traditions and geographical positions.
Sec. 6. _The Numeral System._
The Mayas had a mathematical turn, and possessed a developed system of
numeration. It counted by units and scores; in other words, it was a
vigesimal system. The cardinal numbers were:--
Hun, one.
Ca, two.
Ox, three.
Can, four.
Ho, five.
Uac, six.
Uuc, seven.
Uaxac, eight.
Bolon, nine.
Lahun, ten.
Buluc, eleven.
Lahca, twelve.
Oxlahun, thirteen.
Canlahun, fourteen.
Holhun, fifteen.
Uaclahun, sixteen.
Uuclahun, seventeen.
Uaxaclahun, eighteen.
Bolonlahun, nineteen.
Hunkal, twenty.
The composition of these numerals from twelve to nineteen inclusive is
easily seen. _Lahun_ is apparently a compound of _lah hun_ (sc.
_uinic_), "it finishes one (man);" that is, in counting on the fingers.
_Lah_ means the end, to end, and also the whole of anything. _Kal_, a
score, is literally a fastening together, a shutting up, from the verb
_kal_, to shut, to lock, to button up, etc.
From twenty upward, the scores are used:--
Hun tu kal, one to the score, 21.
Ca tu kal, two to the score, 22.
Ox tu kal, three to the score, 23,
and so on up to
Ca kal, two score, 40.
Above forty, three different methods can be used to continue the
numeration.
1. We may continue the same employed between 20 and 40, thus:--
Hun tu cakal, one to two score, 41.
Ca tu cakal, two to two score, 42.
Ox tu cakal, three to two score, 43,
and so on.
2. The numeral copulative _catac_ can be used, with the numeral particle
_tul_; as:--
Cakal catac catul, two score and two, 42.
Cakal catac oxtul, two score and three, 43.
3. We may count upon the next score above, as:
Hun tu yoxkal, one on the third score, 41.
Ca tu yoxkal, two on the third score, 42.
Ox tu yoxkal, three on the third score, 43.
The last mentioned system is that advanced by Father Beltran, and is the
only one formally mentioned by him. It has recently been carefully
analyzed by Prof. Leon de Rosny, who has shown that it is a consistent
vigesimal method.[40-1]
It might be asked, and the question is pertinent, and is left unanswered
by Prof. Leon de Rosny, why _hun tu kal_ means "one to the score," and
_hun tu can kal_ is translated, "one on the fourth score." This
important shade of meaning may be given, I think, by the possessive _u_
which originally belonged in the phrase, but suffered elision. Properly
it should be,
Hun tu u can kal.
This seems apparent from other numbers where it has not suffered
elision, but merely incorporation, as:--
Hun tu yox kal=hun tu u ox kal, 41.
Hu tu yokal=hun tu u ho kal, 81.
This system of numeration, advanced by Beltran, appears to have been
adopted by all of the later writers, who may have learned the Maya
largely from his Grammar. Thus, in the translation of the Gospel of St.
John, published by the Baptist Bible Translation Society, chap. II, v.
20; _Xupan uactuyoxkal hab utial u mental letile kulnaa_, "forty and six
years was this temple in building;"[41-1] and in that of the Gospel of
St. Luke, said to have been the work of Father Joaquin Ruz, the same
system is followed.[41-2]
Nevertheless, Beltran's method has been severely criticised by Don Juan
Pio Perez, who ranks among the ablest Yucatecan linguists of this
century. He has pronounced it artificial, not in accordance with either
the past or present use of the natives themselves, and built up out of
an effort to assimilate the Maya to the Latin numeral system.
I give his words in the original, from his unpublished essay on Maya
grammar.[42-1]
"Los Indios de Yucatan cuentan por veintenas, que llaman _kal_ y en
cierto modo tienen diez y nueve unidades hasta completar la primera
veintena que es _hunkal_ aunque en el curso de esta solo se encuentran
once numeros simples, pues los nombres de los restantes se forman de los
de la primera decena.
"Para contar de una a otra veintena los numeros fraccionarios o las diez
y nueve unidades, terminadas por la particula _tul_ o su sincopa
_tu_,[42-2] se juntan antepuestas a la veintena espresada; por exemplo,
_hunkal_, 20; _huntukal_, 21; _catukal_, 22; y _huntucakal_, 41;
_catucakal_, 42; _oxtucankal_, 83; _cantuhokal_, 140, etc.
"El Padre Fr. Beltran de Santa Rosa, como puede verse en su _Arte de
Lengua Maya_, formo un sistema distinto a este desde la 2ª veintena
hasta la ultima, pues para espresar las unidades entre este y la 3ª
veintena pone a esta terminandolas y por consiguiente rebajandole su
valor por solo su anteposicion a dichas unidades fraccionarias, y asi
para espresar el numero 45 por ejemplo dice _ho tu yoxkal_, cuando
_oxkal_ o _yoxkal_ significa 60.
"No se de donde tomo los fundamentos en que se apoya este sistema, quiza
en el uso de su tiempo, que no ha llegado hasta este; aunque he visto en
varios manuscritos antiguos, que los Indios de entonces como los de
ahora, usaban el sistema que indico, y espresaban las unidades integras
que numeraban, y para espresar el numero 65 dicen; _Oxkal catac hotul_ u
_hotu oxkal_, que usa el Padre Beltran por 45.[43-1]
"Mas el metodo que explico esta apoyado en el uso y aun en el curso que
se advierte en la 1ª y 2ª veintena e indican que asi deben continuar las
decenas hasta la 20ª y no formar sistemas confusos que por ser mas o
menos analogos a la numeracion romana lo juzgaban mas o menos perfectos,
porque la consideraban como un tipo a que debia arreglarse cualquiera
otra lengua, cuando en ellas todo lo que no este conforme con el uso
recibido y corriente, es construir castillos en el aire y hacer reformas
que por mas ingeniosas que sean, no pasan de inoficiosas."
In the face of this severe criticism of Father Beltran's system, I
cannot explain how it is that in Pio Perez's own Dictionary of the Maya,
the numerals above 40 are given according to Beltran's system; and that
this was not the work of the editors of that volume (which was published
after his death), is shown by an autographic manuscript of his
dictionary in my possession, written about 1846,[44-1] in which also the
numerals appear in Beltran's form.
Three other manuscript dictionaries in my collection, all composed
previous to 1690, affirm the system of Beltran, and I am therefore
obliged to believe that it was authentic and current among the natives
long before white scholars began to dress up their language in the
ill-fitting garments of Aryan grammar.
Proceeding to higher numbers, it is interesting to note that they also
proceed on the vigesimal system, although this has not heretofore been
distinctly shown. The ancient computation was:
20 units = one _kal_ = 20
20 kal = one _bak_ = 400
20 bak = one _pic_ = 8,000
20 pic = one _calab_ = 160,000
20 calab = one _kinchil_ or _tzotzceh_ = 3,200,000
20 kinchil = one _alau_ = 64,000,000
This ancient system was obscured by the Spaniards using the word _pic_
to mean 1000 and _kinchil_ to mean 1,000,000, instead of their original
significations.
The meaning of _kal_, I have already explained to be a fastening
together, a package, a bundle. _Bak_, as a verb, is to tie around and
around with a network of cords; _pic_ is the old word for the short
petticoat worn by the women, which was occasionally used as a sac. If we
remember that grains of corn or of cacao were what were generally
employed as counters, then we may suppose these were measures of
quantity. The word _kal_ (_qal_), in Kiche means a score and also
specifically 20 grains of cacao; _bak_ in Cakchiquel means a corn-cob,
and as a verb to shell an ear of corn, but I am not clear of any
connection between this and the numeral. Other meanings of _bak_ in Maya
are "meat" and the _partes pudendas_ of either sex.
_Calab_, seems to be an instrumental form from _cal_, to stuff, to fill
full.[45-1] The word _calam_ is used in the sense of excessive,
overmuch. In Cakchiquel the phrase _mani hu cala_, not (merely) one
_cala_, is synonymous with _mani hu chuvi_, not (merely) one bag or
sack, both meaning a countless number.[46-1] In that dialect the
specific meaning of _cala_ is 20 loads of cacao beans.[46-2]
The term _tzotzceh_ means deerskin, but for _kinchil_ and _alau_, I have
found no satisfactory derivation that does not strain the forms of the
word too much. I would, however, suggest one possible connection of
meaning.
In _kinchil_, we have the word _kin_, day; in _alau_, the word _u_
month, and in the term for mathematical infinity, _hunhablat_, we find
_hun haab_, one year, just as in the related expression, _hunhablazic_,
which signifies that which lasts a whole year. If this suggestion is
well grounded, then in these highest expressions of quantity (and I am
inclined to think that originally _hun hablat_, one _hablat_=20 _alau_)
we have applications of the three time periods, the day, the month, and
the year, with the figurative sense that the increase of one over the
other was as the relative lengths of these different periods.
I think it worth while to go into these etymologies, as they may throw
some light on the graphic representation of the numerals in the Maya
hieroglyphics. It is quite likely that the figures chosen to represent
the different higher units would resemble the objects which their names
literally signify. The first nineteen numerals were written by a
combination of dots and lines, examples of which we find in abundance in
the Codex Troano and other manuscripts. The following explanation of it
is from the pen of a native writer in the last century:--
[Illustration]
"Yantac thun yetel paiche tu pachob, he hunppel thune hunppel bin haabe,
uaix cappele cappel bin haabe, uaix oxppel thuun, ua canppel thuune,
canppel binbe, uaix oxppel thuun baixan; he paichee yan yokol xane, ua
hunppel paichee, hoppel haab bin; ua cappel paichee lahunppiz bin; uaix
hunppel paichee yan yokol xane, ua yan hunppel thuune uacppel bin be;
uaix cappel thuune yan yokol paichee uucppel bin be; ua oxppel thuun yan
yokole, uaxppel binbe; uaixcanppel thun yan yokole paichee (bolonppel
binbe); yanix thun yokol (cappel) paichee buluc piz; uaix cappel thune
lahcapiz; ua oxppel thuun, oxlahunpiz."
"They (our ancestors) used (for numerals in their calendars) dots and
lines back of them; one dot for one year, two dots for two years, three
dots for three, four dots for four, and so on; in addition to these they
used a line; one line meant five years, two lines ten years; if one line
and above it one dot, six years; if two dots above the line, seven
years; if three dots above, eight; if four dots above the line, nine; a
dot above two lines, eleven; if two dots, twelve; if three dots,
thirteen."[48-1]
The plan of using the numerals in Maya differs somewhat from that in
English.
In the first place, they are rarely named without the addition of a
_numeral particle_, which is suffixed. These particles indicate the
character or class of the objects which are, or are about to be,
enumerated. When they are uttered, the hearer at once knows what kind of
objects are to be spoken of. Many of them can be traced to a meaning
which has a definite application to a class, and they have analogues in
European tongues. Thus I may say "seven head of"--and the hearer knows
that I am going to speak of cattle, or sheep, or cabbages, or similar
objects usually counted by heads. So in Maya _ac_ means a turtle or a
turtle shell; hence it is used as a particle in counting canoes, houses,
stools, vases, pits, caves, altars, and troughs, and some general
appropriateness can be seen; but when it is applied also to cornfields,
the analogy seems remote.
Of these numeral particles, not less than _seventy-six_ are given by
Beltran, in his Grammar, and he does not exhaust the list. Of these
_piz_ and _pel_, both of which mean, single, singly, are used in
counting years, and will frequently recur in the annals I present in
this volume.
By their aid another method of numeration was in vogue for counting
time. For "eighty-one years," they did not say _hutuyokal haab_, but
_can kal haab catac hunpel haab_, literally, "four score years and one
year." The copulative _catac_ is also used in adding a smaller number to
a _bak_, or 400, as for 450, _hun bak catac lahuyoxkal_, "one _bak_ and
ten toward the third score." _Catac_ is a compound of _ca tac_, _ca_
meaning "then" or "and," and _tac_, which Dr. Berendt considered to be
an irregular future of _talel_, to come, "then will come fifty," but
which may be the imperative of _tac_ (_tacah_, _tace_, third
conjugation), which means to put something under another, as in the
phrase _tac ex che yalan cum_, put you wood under the pot.
It will be seen that the latter method is by addition, the former by
subtraction. Another variety of the latter is found in the annals. For
instance, "ninety-nine years" is not expressed by _bolonlahutuyokal
haab_, nor yet by _cankal haab catac bolonlahunpel haab_, but by _hunpel
haab minan ti hokal haab_, "one single year lacking from five score
years."
Sec. 7. _The Calendar._
The system of computing time adopted by the Mayas is a subject too
extensive to be treated here in detail, but it is indispensable, for the
proper understanding of their annals, that the outlines of their
chronological scheme be explained.
The year, _haab_, was intended to begin on the day of the transit of the
sun by the zenith, and was counted from July 16th. It was divided into
eighteen months, _u_ (_u_, month, moon), of twenty days, _kin_ (sun,
day, time), each. The days were divided into groups of five, as
follows:--
1. _Kan._ 6. _Muluc._ 11. _Ix._ 16. _Cauac._
2. Chicchan. 7. Oc. 12. Men. 17. Ahau.
3. Cimi. 8. Chuen. 13. Cib. 18. Imix.
4. Manik. 9. Eb. 14. Caban. 19. Ik.
5. Lamat. 10. Ben. 15. E[c]nab. 20. Akbal.
The months, in their order, were:--
1. Pop.
2. Uo.
3. Zip.
4. Zo[c].
5. Zeec.
6. Xul.
7. [C]e-yaxkin.
8. Mol.
9. Chen.
10. Yaax.
11. Zac.
12. Ceh.
13. Mac.
14. Kankin.
15. Moan.
16. Pax.
17. Kayab.
18. Cumku.
As the Maya year was of 365 days, and as 18 months of 20 days each
counted only 360 days, there were five days intervening between the last
of the month Cumku and the first day of the following year. These were
called "days without names," _xma kaba kin_ (_xma_, without, _kaba_,
names, _kin_, days), an expression not quite correct, as they were named
in regular order, only they were not counted in any month.
It will be seen, by glancing at the list of days, that this arrangement
brought at the beginning of each year, the days Kan, Muluc, Ix and Cauac
in turn, and that no other days could begin the year. These days were
therefore called _cuch haab_, "the bearers of the years" (_cuch_, to
bear, carry, _haab_, year), and years were distinguished as "a year
Kan," "a year Muluc," etc., as they began with one or another of these
"year bearers."
But the calendar was not so simple as this. The days were not counted
from one to twenty, and then beginning at one again, and so on, but by
periods of 13 days each. Thus, in the first month, beginning with 1 Kan,
the 14th day of that month begins a new "week," as it has been called,
and is named 1 Caban. Twenty-eight of these weeks make 364 days, thus
leaving one day to complete the year. When the number of these odd days
amounted to 13, in other words when thirteen years had elapsed, this
formed a period which was called "the _katun_ of days," _kin katun_, and
by Spanish writers an "indiction."
It will be readily observed by an inspection of the following table,
that four of these indictions, in other words 52 years, will elapse
before a "year bearer" of the same name and number recommences a year.