Muestra

A PRELIMINARY CLASSIC MAYA - ENGLISH / ENGLISH - CLASSIC MAYA VOCABULARY OF HIEROGLYPHIC READINGS

including verb roots, inflections, nouns, adjectives, toponyms, proper names of objects and buildings, as well as a selection of nominal phrases of gods and historic individuals

© January 2002

compiled by E r i k B o o t (Leiden University, the Netherlands)
Comments and suggestions arewelcome at wukyabnal@hotmail.com

Contents

Introduction References to the Introduction The Vocabulary, Part 1: Classic Maya - English The Vocabulary, Part 2: English - Classic Maya Appendix 1: Recorded Classic Maya Numerals Appendix 2: Recorded Classic Maya Numeral Classifiers Appendix 3: Recorded Classic Maya Names of the 20-day and 5-day Periods Appendix 4: Recorded Classic Maya PronounsAppendix 5: Recorded Classic Maya Verb Roots Appendix 6: Recorded Classic Maya Kinship Terms Appendix 7: Recorded Classic Maya Animal Names Appendix 8: Classic Maya Entries for the Swadesh 200-Word Diagnostic List

3 10 12 94 109 111 111 114 115 118 119 121

Introduction A first version of this vocabulary (under a slightly different title) was compiled in the summer and autumn of 1998 and printedNovember 30, 1998 (Boot 1998). It was first distributed during the Maya hieroglyph course taught by Nikolai Grube at the Leiden University (September-December 1998). A corrected and extended version of this vocabulary was printed March 5, 1999, and distributed at the 1999 Texas Maya Meetings, where it also entered the "Maya Files" that are available during the meetings at Kinko's Copy Center onMedical Arts, Austin, Texas. New additions, corrections, and extensions were subsequently entered on different occasions during 1999 (April, July-August), 2000 (April, August), and 2001 (January, April). This latest version was subsequently emailed to fellow epigraphers in April and May 2001. Final additions and corrections were entered in January 2002. For the first time, this vocabulary now alsocontains an EnglishClassic Maya section. The current version of the Classic Maya-English vocabulary contains over 1,100 main entries based on decipherments made during the last 150 years (cf. Coe 1992). The English-Classic Maya vocabulary contains over 575 entries. At present, it is impossible to accompany each entry by the epigrapher(s) who presented the decipherment or reading in question firstor with the most convincing argument. For those interested in the history of decipherment I direct the reader to Coe's 1992 book, while also two extensive explanatory glyph identification listings are available. First, the listing compiled by John Justeson, published in 1984; second, the listing compiled by Kornelia Kurbjuhn, published in 1989. Both listings identify the glyphic signs according tothe numbers as allocated by Thompson in his 1962 catalog. Most of the glyph identifications have multiple entries by different epigraphers. Through these entries it can be seen that not all epigraphers agree on certain decipherments while many decipherments are outdated. It also has to be noted that more recent decipherments are not included in these listings (1988 and onwards). For those readingsthe reader may turn to a section entitled "Known Glyphs and Expressions" in the recent notebooks for the Texas Maya Meetings, held every year in March in Austin, Texas. In an elegant way, the late Linda Schele (1954-1998) introduces specific new decipherments (until 1997), the epigraphers who presented these decipherments, as well as the applications and implications of those decipherments (e.g.Schele 1998: 34-55). The most recent decipherments are incorporated in two new books, which recently appeared in press. The first book is written and illustrated by Michael Coe and Mark Van Stone and is entitled Reading the Maya Glyphs (Thames and Hudson, New York and London). The second book is written and illustrated by John Montgomery and is entitled How to Read Maya Hieroglyphs (Hippocrene...