CMGG entry for syllabogram tzu      (This article is part of the Learner's Maya Glyph Guide.)

Variant: vine

                                                  

MC                                     K&H                        JM                              TOK.p16.r3.c1                   0370st

 

MHD.ZT1s.1

 

MHD.ZT1s.3

 

MHD.ZT1s.2

 

·    Do not confuse with TAK = “dry”, which has K’IN in the top left, whereas tzu has LEM.

·    Do not confuse this with UUN / UN = “avocado”, which has a cross-hatched circle in the top left (=the seed of the avocado fruit?), whereas tzu has LEM.

·    It is derived from TZU(‘) meaning “gourd”.

·    There is also a reading as HOP for this glyph (BeliaevEtAl-NGA.p358.pdfp8, but seen only in the very limited context of the ruler name / theonym Hoplaj). MHD distinguishes them by assigning tzu the code ZT1s and HOP the code ZT1a.

 

Sub-variants (3) – all sub-variants are a basic vine of the gourd with infixed:

·    A. LEM: this is the most typical sub-variant.

·    B. Circle: this one could be confused with UN/UUN, but the circle in UN/UUN is typically cross hatched.

·    C. Two instances of the “wood” property marker: This seems to be quite an aberrant sub-variant, given by MHD.

 

Variant: ribcage

                                   

MC                               K&H                          JM                                     MHD.ZT1s.5

 

·    Although this resembles a spine and ribcage, it is in fact simply the codex version of the “vine” variant.

·    In contrast to the non-codex forms, the codex form doesn’t have an infixed circular element (the distinct shape of the vine “branches are sufficient to identify it as tzu).

 

Variant: head

                               

MHD.SM5                   0370hc                          

 

                                                                                                 

COLAIC71895               Martin-AMP.p255.fig62                                        mayavase.com                Morley

                                       BPK-LAC - Unprovenanced Column D1               K8257 S                            PUS Stela E

tzu.<tza:ja>                  tzu.<tza:ja>                                                              5.pi.tzu                              <2tzu>.ja

 

·    The examples above were found using MHD:

o “blcodes contains SM5” (to get the “head with ‘tree-trunk with roots’ infixed down the middle”).

o “blmaya1 does not contain tzuk” (to exclude TZUK).

This gives 7 hits, of which I have selected the best 4.

·    Some of these contain a tree trunk (e.g. K8257 S). Such examples could be considered to be a head sub-variant of the “tree” variant, but quite a number do not have a tree-trunk. The context in which they are found shows that they are tzu. For example, in BPK-LAC Unprovenanced Column D1, the head-glyph has tza:ja very clearly after it, and the whole of D1 occurs before uhx lajuun haab. So tzutzaj uhx lajuun haab is the obvious reading. For convenience I have put all the head-related ones here, with or without a tree trunk, but the former could just as well be classed with the tree trunk variant.