Variant: horseshoes

·    Features = a “rectangular outline” consisting of (typically) four touching horseshoes:

o The horseshoes always point “inwards” (in the direction of the “main sign”). Thompson T136b has them pointing “outwards”, but this is almost never seen.

o The inside of the horseshoes can be so round that the horseshoe becomes a crescent.

o The crescents are often “bloated crescents”.

o The inner side of the horseshoes can be reinforced, particularly when bloated.

o The inside of the horseshoes can be so “thin” that they become just single “ticks”.

o Thompson and Bonn include examples with fewer than four horseshoes.

·    Do not confuse the very reduced form of no (“C2” and “C3” above) with the visually identical “rectangular” / “horseshoe” form of ji:

o no occurs only on the left and right of main signs

o ji occurs only on the top and bottom of main signs.

·    This variant of the ji is frequently conflated with ya, to write the verbal suffix -jiiy. It is so common that TOK lists it as a separate entry ji-ya (TOK.p10.r4.c2).

·    MHD statistics (2025-07-15): a search in MHD on “blcodes contains 33F” yields 1,377 hits:

o This huge number makes it hard to see how often the subvariants (fewer than 4 horseshoes, insides so thin that they’re ticks, pointing outwards, etc) occur.

o Nevertheless, visual inspection reveals that a very large majority are four horseshoes (which is why this is the number usually given in the pedagogical examples).

Variant: hand

·    Features – a basically rectangular / flint outline with:

o A series of parallel ticks or short arcs on one side, all the way along the side wall or only towards the bottom, giving the impression of the paw of an animal.

o An infixed roundish/ovalish / rectangular element hanging from the centre of the ceiling (the “centre” being offset slightly because of the presence of the “paw”).

o The “paw” is typically on the right, but there are also instances of a paw on the left.

·    Subvariants (2):

o A. The infixed element is a LEM.

o B. The infixed element is a “ladder”.

§ The sides of the ladder may be slightly curved.

§ There are typically two rungs in the ladder, but there may be fewer or more.

·    Do not confuse this glyph with the hand variant of yi:

o ji has the internal oval on the ceiling, with a ladder or LEM.

o yi has the internal oval on the floor, with a left feeler in it (the oval forms the protector of the feeler) and there are two struts between the oval and the ceiling.

Variant: mammal head

·    Features – a mammal head with:

o (Typically) with a “mammal ear” in the top right.

o Infixed AK’AB (darkness property marker) implying a dark-coloured mammal or a nocturnal one (think of it as a rat). This is typically in the forehead, but there may be an additional one on the right.

·    Subvariants (2):

o A. With teeth (typically three or four): seems to go parallel with a single AK’AB and a mammal ear.

o B. No teeth: seems to go parallel with two AK’ABs and no mammal ear.

But this pattern may be an illusion caused by the small sample size.

·    In MSK844 (a.k.a. CLK Tomb 4 Plate) E, the distinctive characteristic of the “paw” variant (parallel ticks / short arcs) is visible in the bottom right.