USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Madisonville > Indian Village Site and Cemetery Near Madisonville, Ohio > Part 44
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ka kal katak ka, 42 (2 score and 2).
Perez gives the example:
hun qal katak ho, 25 (one score and 5).
Beltran's numbers for 30 and 35: la hu ka qal hol hu ka qal.
and all numbers above 40 use the unit of qal above rather than below the number expressed:
hol hu ka qal, 35, literally, 15, 2 qal or, freely, 15 toward the 2d qal (40). The numbers from 31 to 34 and 36 to 39, on the other hand, use the unit of qal below the number expressed:
wak la hun tu qal, 36 (16 on the [one] qal).
All numbers above 40 correspond in form with those for 30 and 35, using the unit of qal above the number expressed:
hun tu yos qal, 41 (one on the 3d qal).
It seems clear that there is some mistake here in Beltran's num- eration, although all writers have followed him in giving the same forms. The same particle, tu, is used both in those forms for numbers below 40 which add the number to the preceding unit of qal, and also in the forms for 30, 35 and those above 40, where the number is really added, if we accept the meaning of tu, to the suc- ceeding unit of qal: 1
ka tu qal, 22 (2 to qal).
ka tu yoš qal, 42 (2 to 3 qal, not 2 to 2 qal).
1 In this connection, Thomas (1897-1898, p. 891) writes, "Perez, as quoted by Dr. Brinton, says, in an unpublished essay in the latter's possession, that Beltran's method of expressing the numbers is erroneous; that 41 should be
102
GRAMMAR
Under the same rule, after 380 is reached, Beltran starts with 381 counting towards the next higher unit of baq, 400:
hun tu hun baq, 381 (1 to [1] baq). ho tu hun baq, 385 (5 to [1] baq), etc.
A point, not previously mentioned in connection with Beltran's numeration, is that tu is not used with the forms adding 10 and 15 to each qal unit, namely, 30 and 35, 50 and 55, 70 and 75, etc .: la hu ka qal, 30. la hu yoš qal, 50.
hol hu ka qal, 35. hol hu yoš qal, 55.
This omission of the tu is to be noted in the same relative places 1 until 190 is reached when it is found again:
la hu tu la hun qal, 190. hol hu tu la hun qal, 195.
The tu is then found in the same relative places until 370 is reached when it is dropped again:
la hu bolon la hu qal, 370.
It is found with the next number when 15 is added to the unit: hol hu tu bolon la hu qal, 375.
and it is dropped again for the next 10 added to the qal: la hu hun baq, 390.
and added for the next 15: hol hu tu hun baq, 395
I cannot explain this irregularity in these two places in the nu- meration. The fact that, with the exception of the even qal and
hun-tu-kaqal; 42, ka-tu-kaqal; 83, oš-tu-kangal, etc. Nevertheless, as Dr. Brinton has pointed out, the numerals above 40 are given in Perez's Diction- ary of the Maya Language according to Beltran's system, which appears from other evidence to be correct. Léon de Rosny suggests that hun-tu-yošqal should be explained thus: 60 - 20 + 1. However, the correct rendering ap- pears to be 1 on the third score, or third 20. It is possible that an old and a new reckoning prevailed among the Mayas, as apparently among the Cakchi- quels. According to Stoll the latter people had an old and a more recent method of enumerating . . . Perez says that tu is an abbreviation of the num- eral particle tul, but Rosny says, 'Je crois que ce n'est point, comme il [Ban- croft] le suppose, la simple conjonction et, mais une phrase des mots ti-u, dans son, à lui, sien; u est un pronom appele par les grammairiens Espanols mixte et qui forme la copulation, comme en Anglais l's du genitif.' Dr. Berendt adopts the same opinion, which is probably correct."
1 That is, 70 and 75, 90 and 95, 110 and 115, 130 and 135, 150 and 155, 170 and 175.
103
NUMERATION
baq, tu is always found except in some of the forms adding 10 and 15 to the units seems to show some definite purpose when it is omitted.1
The unit above qal is baq which is equivalent to 20 x 20, 400. This word has the meaning " to roll up, to tie around." It has already been noted that the baq unit comes in first with 381.
Beltran's numbers above 400, except even multiples of this unit, baq, are evidently abbreviated. Otherwise they are unintelligible.
ho tu baq, 500 = ho qal tu baq.
la hu tu baq, 600 = la hun qal tu baq.
Above 800, in the same way as before, the next higher unit is used:
ho tu yoš baq, 900 = ho qal tu yoš baq (100 on 3d baq).
The unit of the 3d place (20 x 20 X 20, 8000) is pik, meaning " cotton cloth or a kind of petticoat." As pointed out by Thomas (1897-1898, p 893), Henderson gives the significance of pik as " a bag made out of a petticoat " which corresponds with the Mexican term for 8000.
Beltran points out (§ 312) that the Mayas in his day used the term pik as meaning 1000 rather than 8000.
The unit of the 4th place (20 x 20 x 20 X 20, 160,000) is kalab and that for the 5th place (20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20, 3,200,000) is qintšil, and that for the 6th place is alaw .?
Numeral Classifiers. There is a large number of classificatory suffixes in use with the numerals. The latter can never stand alone. These suffixes qualify the term and show into what class the ob- jects counted fall. At the present time all nouns are broadly classified into two classes, animate and inanimate, by the two suffixes -tul and -p'el:
oš-tul winik, three men, oš-p'el na, three houses.
Apart from a few other classifiers there is not much attention paid by the Mayas of the present time to the finer distinctions formerly made by these suffixes. Some, however, are always used.
1 There is one exception to this rule. Beltran's form for 171, buluk bolon qal, omits the tu.
2 For a discussion of the meaning of these terms, see Thomas, op. cit. p. 894.
-...
104
GRAMMAR
A list of suffixes used as classifiers for the numeral as given, for the most part, by Beltran (§ 313) and translated by Nuttall (1903) 1 is given in Appendix III, p. 290-292.
THE ADVERB
POSITION. Adverbs, especially those formed from the intran- sitive verb-adjective, have two positions in regard to the verb and its subject. They may be placed either at the beginning before the .nominal pronoun or between the nominal pronoun and the verb: seeb tin konil, I sell it easily. tšambe tin o'ib, I write slowly.
qas tin o'ib, I write badly. tin tšitš šimbal, I walk fast.
I cannot state any rule for the position of the adverb in these forms. Some seem always to be placed before the pronoun and others after the pronoun.
In verbs where the verbal pronoun rather than the nominal is used the adverb comes at the beginning;
tsambe o'ib-n-ah-en, I wrote slowly.
Forms used with the verbal pronoun may have the particle -il or -ik inserted between the root and the pronoun:
tšitš šimbal-n-ah-il-en, I walked fast, or tšits šimbal-n-ah-ik-en. tšitš simbal-n-ah-ah-n-il-en, I walked fast-a long time ago. suk kohan-il-en, I am always ill.
suk keel-il-en, I am always cold.
The adverbial particles are very numerous in Maya. No attempt has been made to exhaust the list.2 The most important are as follows:
NEGATION. This is shown by the particle ma which precedes the nominal pronoun and comes immediately before the verb when the verbal pronoun is used :
1 Mrs. Nuttall makes a very pertinent "suggestion to Maya scholars" as to the identity between the significance of some of these classificatory particles and portions of the hieroglyphic writing appearing with the series of numbers. These number series, worked out up to the present time, all relate to periods of time. There is no reference whatever to objects of various classes being counted. It is especially desired that something may be done in this line of research.
? The reader is referred to the lists given in Beltran and in San Buenaven- tura. See also Lopez, Chapter VIII.
105
THE ADVERB
mi-nan, contracting from ma-yan, there is none. ma-in bin, I am not going. ma-bin-etš, you did not go.
The particle -il, noted above, may be used with the negative com- ing, however, after the verbal pronoun:
ma sak-en-il, I was not afraid.
The final 1 is often lost and we get: 1
ma sak-en-i. ma bin-en-i, I did not go.
It will be noted that the forms of the nominal pronoun are not compounded with a time particle in these examples. The sign of the past, -ah, may also be omitted with the negative. The nomi- nal pronoun usually contracts with the negative and the final -1 is lost as noted above: 2
ma-in into min. ma-a into ma. ma-u into mu.
ma-u putš-ah-en-il, becoming m-u puts-en-i, he did not hit me. ma-in puts-ah-il, becoming m-in puts-i, I did not hit him.
REPETITION. This may be expressed in the action of the verb by the particle -ka :
tin ka-bin or ka bin-in-kah, 'I am going again. ka tal-etš, you came again.
TOTALITY. This idea is shown by the particle ia or lah, probably derived from the word tulakal, all:
tin la-uk-ik or tin la wuk-ik, I am drinking all of it. tan la-hant-ik wa, you are eating all of the tortillas. tun la-qai-ob, they are all singing.
1 Lopez (§ 172) has this final i with the negative forms; ma in qati, I do not desire. ma in qat hanali, I do not desire to eat.
2 Lopez (§§ 97, 99) makes a negative preterit expression by means of the future form without bin and a negative future expression by means of the pre- sent form with tin, ta, tu in place of kin, ka, ku: ma tal-ak-en, I have not gone. ma tin han-al, I shall not eat.
I cannot understand these forms.
106
GRAMMAR
The la seems to modify either the subject or the object of the verb. I cannot find that there is any differentiation in the forms accord- ing to the thing modified.1
A repetition of the particle la is sometimes noted after the root. This intensifies the meaning:
tin la-hant-la-n-t-ik, I am eating absolutely everything.
This particle is also used with the idea of totality with ad jectives:
kohan-ob, they are ill. kohan-tak-ob, many are ill. la-kohan-tak-ob, all are ill. tun la-kohan-tal-ob, they all become ill.
tun la-kohan-ob, they are all ill.
MANNER OR STATE. The particle denoting these ideas is be. This adverb takes the -il or -ik forms noted above (p. 104).
bē tin putš-ah-il-etš or bē tin putš-il-etš, thus, I hit you. be tal-il-en or be tal-ik-en, thus I came.
DEMONSTRATIVE. Suffixes similar to the demonstrative pronoun, a and o, with the meaning " this or that way " are often used with the adverb be (usually written bey) : ?
be tal-il-en-a, thus I came this way. be tal-il-en-o, thus I came that way.
The form in a is used when the method of coming is shown by some action, the form in o when the method of coming is described by words:
be putš-il-en-a, thus I was hit (showing how). be putš-il-en-o, thus I was hit (telling how).
When these forms take the nominal pronoun the suffix -il is not used:
be-in wal-ik-a, I say it like this. be-in beet-ik-a, I make it like this. be-in wal-ik-o, I say it like that. bě-in beet-ik-o, I make it like that.
1 Seler (p. 81) includes the particle -la with the inchoative foms in -hal, -tal, and -tsa-hal and infers that la is used only with intransitive verbs.
2 Perez (1866-77) makes much the same distinction between the suffixes -a and -o in the following examples;
he le simn-a, aqui esta el caballo. he le simn-o, alli esta el caballo.
107
PREPOSITIONS AND POSTPOSITIONS
PREPOSITIONS AND POSTPOSITIONS
These are interesting as they are used in place of the oblique ·cases in Maya. When used with nouns all are prefixed:
yalan poq, below the hat. yetel winik, with the man.
A distinction is seen, however, when these forms are used with the pronoun. They are then divided into two classes, those pre- fixed to the forms of the verbal pronoun and those suffixed to the nominal pronoun. It is not clear how this distinction is governed. To the first class belong:
yetel, with, yetel-en, with me. nas', near, nas'-etš, near you. yogol, above, yoqol-i, above him.
To the second and larger class belong:
men or menel, by, t-in-men, by me.
tial, for, in-tial, for me. Voar
Del, beside, a-sel, beside you, literally, fay side.
walan, below, in-walan, or t-in walan, below me.
ti, in, from, and to, tin bin t-in na, I am going to my house.1 tin tal t-in na, I am coming from my house.
It seems clear that the idea of a noun with its possessive pronoun is uppermost here but this does not explain why we have,
in walan, below me and yoqol-en, above me.
1 The t or ti corresponds to the forms given in the early grammars as the dative case.
.
PART II MAYA TEXTS
PART II MAYA TEXTS
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AVAILABLE. The reader will gain some idea of the vast amount of literature in the Maya language from the discussion of the Maya texts available for study (Part III, p. 182). These documents date from the days following the Conquest and con- tinue down to the present time. They vary much in content and in value as faithful transcriptions of the language as spoken at the time when they were written.
GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE. It is pertinent to ask how much help in translating the early texts is to be derived from a grammar such as the present work. The thesis has been advanced in this paper that it is probable the grammatical structure of the language has not changed appreciably from early to late times. If this is the case, and the ancient as well as the modern texts were written grammatically, there would be little difficulty, as far as the grammar is concerned, in understanding the early examples of written Maya. Observations have led me to believe, however, that the early texts were not written with much regard for grammar, even the Maya grammar built upon a Latin model. It is unusual to find in the early texts examples of the greater part of the ex- pressions given by Beltran and the other early grammarians. Their. illustrations are, of course, in most cases grammatical but they are not taken from texts but are isolated sentences made up to illustrate the special points to which references are made.
It seems probable that the early Maya texts are generally lack- ing in the finer shades of meaning which it is possible to express in Maya and, furthermore, it is not to be expected that forms not. recognized by the early grammarians would always find expression in the texts.
The Books of Chilam Balam, that most fertile source of texts in Maya, furnish examples of this lack of precise grammatical struc-
111
112
MAYA TEXTS
ture. As I have written elsewhere (1917, p. 183), "It must be re- membered that the manuscripts themselves are, no doubt, copies of earlier works, collected from different individuals and often copied by several different hands. Some of the manuscripts seem to have been the work of those who did not know Maya. Several different spellings of the same word occur and common Maya words are frequently misspelled. On the other hand, some of the pages seem to show a surprising ignorance of Spanish - Iglesia, for example, is spelled in one place "Iglayci." As for the Latin words occurring sporadically in the text, one is not surprised to find forms difficult to recognize."
It seems safe to say that these famous texts are often illiterate in the sense that they are probably copies of copies and have been garbled in passing from hand to hand to say nothing of the fact that in the beginning they probably did not express precisely in every case all the forms of the spoken Maya. We return then to the question asked at the beginning of the section, how much help is a grammar in the translation of these texts. It seems to me that a grammar renders surprisingly little aid in deciphering the documents.
LEXICOGRAPHY. It is in respect to the vocabulary that the Maya has changed most. Words have become obsolete. New words have been coined and Spanish words have been introduced in greater or lesser numbers.1 In spite of the tremendous advantage of possessing three early Maya dictionaries it is often not possible to determine accurately the meaning of many of the words in the early texts. Several of the vocabularies give examples of Maya construction. These forms are helpful in many cases in determin- ing homonyms.
Even where there are parallel texts in Spanish and Maya as in the Doctrinas, there is often little help in elucidating the Maya as these translations are usually poorly done, not necessarily because of an ignorance of the proper words but from a general lack of forms in Maya to express properly the ideas contained in the "hipérboles y alegorías" of ecclesiastical Spanish or Latin .?
1 Compare Palma y Palma, p. 145, 146.
? Perez (1844) writes very pertinently on this point as follows, "Si considera- mos igualmente que los antiguos escritores de doctrina y pláticas eran unos serviles
113
INTRODUCTION
On the other hand, the Xiu Chronicles, the Libro de Calcalchen and other secular texts furnish some excellent examples of parallel accounts in the Maya and Spanish of wills and other legal docu- ments. Martínez Hernández writes substantially as follows in a personal letter concerning the collection of documents in the Libro de Calcalchen, "The Maya is very old and is a splendid specimen of Maya literature. Some expressions are unusual and are to be translated only after very diligent research. As we are familiar to a certain extent with the forms of the Ordenanzas, they would help us to translate properly and pave the way for other future transla- tions. I am fully convinced that the Books of Chilam Balam can be translated after translating all these documents. Before this literature came into my hands there were many words in the vo- cabularies the use of which I did not know."
The later Maya texts are naturally far easier to translate on ac- count of the fewer changes in the vocabulary.
The "particles of adornment" are many in Maya.1 They add to the pleasure of the spoken Maya but they cause no little con- fusion in deciphering the written language.
There is a large number of words in Maya with a comparatively large number of onomatopœic words.2
ORTHOGRAPHY. The spelling of the Maya words is often far from consistent. This is especially true of words with the glottal-
traductores de las hipérboles y alegorías de la lengua castellana y latina, vendrémos en conocimiento que estos modos de decir no podian generalizarse entre los indios, como ajenos y distintos á los que el genio de su lengua demandaba; así es que la expresion figurada de llamar a este mundo un 'valle de lágrimas,' no es usada entre los indios, y cuando la encuentran traducida literalmente en la Salve, la encuentran pesada y no hacen de ella aplicacion alguna, y si alguno muy ladino quiere aplicar la idea, lo hace como muchas veces lo he oido, con las palabras de ucahal numya (pueblo ó lugar de miserias ó trabajos), que para ellos tienen igual fuerza, es el mismo sentido, y diferentes las voces. Hay algunas figuras castellanas que no pueden traducirse literalmente al idioma sin ridiculez."
1 Compare Palma y Palma, p. 144 who writes, "No obstante, las particulas compositivas que no modifican el sentido, son muchísimas, las cuales, efectiva- mente, sólo contribuyen á la variedad de las formas de la expresión constituyendo así, como el indicado padre Beltran dice, 'partículas adornativas' que facilitan giros de estilo de que resulta un lenguaje elegante y artístico cuando se habla bien el idioma."
? Compare Palma y Palma, p. 133-134, 258-269, 307.
See discussion of the various dictionaries in Part III (p. 169).
114
MAYA TEXTS
ized consonants and those with doubled vowels. In several cases ç is used for z or s and in these instances the omission of the cedilla with the c is a cause of great annoyance, changing, for example, çiçal (sisal) to cical (kikal). The omission of the bar with the h and p also adds to the confusion. In the early texts there is no proper division into words and sentences. Just as a word may be spelled in several different ways on the same page so a word may be divided in many different ways in succeeding lines.1 This lack of consistency in writing and spacing the Maya is a cause of great confusion .? The Berendt copies of many of the Chilam Balam texts are very useful in this respect.3 The punctuation as used in the early documents is of no value whatsoever and the very common failure to capitalize proper names is still another cause of difficulties.
CHIROGRAPHY. The handwriting in these early texts is often very difficult to make out. There is usually a complete failure to distinguish between v and b. Several different varieties of hand- writing are often seen in the same manuscript.
POSSIBILITY OF TRANSLATION. I have already discussed in an- other place the possibility of a faithful translation of the ancient Maya texts, especially those of the Chilam Balam Books (Tozzer, 1917). I am still of the opinion that many parts of the early docu- ments will defy translation.4 These portions are, for the most part,
1 On a single page in the Chumayel manuscript within six lines the following varieties of spelling and spacing are found:
uhool u poop u hol pop
uhol u pop u hol u poop
u holpop
Compare the different versions of the same prophecy as given in the Tizimin, the Chumayel and the Lizana texts (p. 122).
? In the Chumayel version of one of the prophecies (Chilam Balam de Chumayel, p. 106) there is found, for example, the following division of words: ytzam = nakauil for ytzamna kauil. As Ytzamna is a main god of the Mayas, one would think that the copyist would have known how to write this name properly.
3 Compare Tozzer, 1917, p. 183.
" I have submitted this portion of the manuscript, as well as a great part of the remainder, to Señor Juan Martinez Hernández and he agrees with me in all the statements contained in Part II. He writes, "The parts dealing with their ancient mythology and the esoteric language of the Maya priests may
115
THE INDIANS OF CHAN SANTA CRUZ
those dealing with Maya ritual and, in a figurative way, with the coming of the new religion and the change to the worship of the true God.1
Many parts are translatable but only after the most careful study. There is a great opportunity for mistakes and there are many places where more than one rendering of the text is possible. It is in such places that time and patience are needed.
There follow some examples of Maya texts with translations, starting with the modern Maya and going back to the Maya of the Prophecies and of the Books of Chilam Balam.
1. THE INDIANS OF CHAN SANTA CRUZ 2
Tu haab-il 1847 liqil u-ka-pul
le-wink-ob
leetį In the year 1847 arose for second time these men (Indians) this
u-haab-il tal-ob u-took-ob
Saki
tan nohotš kah:
its year they came to burn Valladolid in the midst of a large pueblo:
yaab pal-al tu-kim-s-ob: ' bė-šan
tulakal
kah-ob
tu-took-
many boys they killed:
thus also
all
the habitations
they
ah-ob ku ' o'ok-ol
ka-bin-ob
Santa Cruz
u-qaba burned when its completion again they went (to) Santa Cruz its name
tak
helae ti-an-ob " ti buk-ah haab yaab: yet wink-il-ob
until now
there they are there so many years many: and
men
J'oki
u-kim-s-ik-ob:
luum
utšuk
man-ob
nohotš:
they have just finished
killing:
the land where
they pass
is great:
yaab-ob
šan:
helae u-yum
oik benil Mexico (there are) many (of) the same ones: now their lord, his Honorable Mexico tun šup-ik
u-taqin yetel u-meq-tan-ob yoklal
u-J'ok-s-ik he is spending his money and his dependents so that they cause to end
prevent or defy translation. . . . It is by the abundance of these examples (Maya constructions given in the vocabularies) that we can find our way in ascertaining so many homonyms of the brief and concise monosyllabic Maya. Compound verbs are difficult to make out. These are often conjugated as simple verbs with additional words completing the same."
1 Compare in this respect the variation in the Maya of the same text (p. 122) as well as the different possibilities in translating the Maya.
2 This text was collected by the author in 1900 at Uayma, near Valladolid, Yucatan, from an Indian named Marcelino Tas.
3 Or tu-kim-s-ah-ob, they caused to die.
' Ku, a contraction of ka-u.
" This is really a contraction of ti-yan-ob.
116
MAYA TEXTS
18-batel-o: utial le-wink-ob-o hu-hum-p'it-il
tun J'ok-ol :
that war: in order that
those men one by one may be exterminated:
tan šan u-boot-k-ob
tulakal baaš
u-meya-m-ob
they also
are paying (the penalty for) all which
they worked tu haab -!!
in Yucatan:
there is
its ending
because it has arrived
the year
u-J'ok-ol:
lė-buk-ah
luum yan-il-ob
bin-u-kah
p'atal
its completion :
all that
land where they are they are coming
to leave
yalan
u-qab
yum
halatš
winik
tu sebal: behelae
yaab
under his arm
the lord
great man as quickly: now many
mak J'ok u-kah-al te Santa Cruz: u-tšikul tu o'oko[]] persons finished (making) their town in Santa Cruz: its sign of its ending
tumen
mi-nan
u-J'on
le-wink-ob hebiš lễ bin-o-ah
because
there are no
guns
the men like (the ones) they raised
yoqol-ob leeti utšben
baal: kin sut-in-wal-e utsben 'on-ob
above them this (in )former
custom: I return to say the former guns
ma tan u-pat-al-ob ma bē utši: qutš tu haab-il they are not serviceable (it was) not thus formerly: there came the year
tu yalkab-an-s-ob J'ul
tumen masewal ku J'ok-ol
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