·    Variants (5):

o A. Rectangular (based on long vertical bar):

§ Features:

·      A vertical bar on the right.

·      A large dot to the left of the bar, top and bottom, touching the bar.

·      Many short parallel horizontal lines between the two dots, each ending in a dot or very tiny dot.

§ This glyph can also write the syllabogram a.

§ It’s rotatable, and under a “main sign” can also be a rebus to write the suffix -aj.

o B. Boulder, a.k.a. the “flaming ak’bal”:

§ Features:

·      Top/left: “flames”.

·      Bottom/right: AK’AB.

§ This variant is the standard one in the famous murals of the Chik Nahb marketplace in CLK.

§ The “flames” are typically on top of the AK’AB but don’t have to be. Bonn (and a few other sources) show sub-variants with the “flames” to the left or under the A’KAB. The subtlety here is that the whole glyph is not rotatable – the AK’AB remains in its upright position, and only the “flames” change their position and orientation.

o C. Head:

§ Features:

·      A deity head, with:

o    A large squarish eye, optionally with cruller like band on the sides and under the eye, with some touching dots under the band.

o    Infixed AK’AB / darkness property marker, typically in the bottom right or right, optionally in the forehead as well.

·      “Flames” to the left or above the deity head.

§ This is not just a “generic animation of the “flaming ak’bal” but is a proper variant in its own right.

o D. “Flames” above water:

§ Features:

·      Top: “flames”.

·      Middle: KOKAN = “stingray spine”.

·      Bottom: HA’. = “water”, “rain”

§ Bonn gives an example without the stingray spine in the middle (1677va).

o E. “Flames” + K’UH:

§ BMM9 is the only pedagogical work to give this variant.

§ Both MHD and Bonn emphasize it’s K’UH (rather than just a monkey head resembling K’UH) by having blood drops in their example. MHD goes even further and has the “precious object” (K’AN) in addition to the blood drops.

§ The Museo de Arte Precolombino y Vidrio Moderno Polychrome Vessel has “objabbr = COLPV1” in MHD.

§ Polyukhovych-APRVoFA (2016) is the paper which proposes that this glyph is AJ. The argument presented is based on the fact that:

·      1. The PSS-F of a polychrome bowl in the collection of the Museo de Arte Precolombino y Vidrio Moderno (“objabbr = COLPV1”) has this glyph in a position which, syntactically and semantically, could be an AJ.

·      2. Glyph-block #26 of Palenque Temple XXI Bench/Platform Edge (“objabbr = PALT21HB”) also has this glyph in a position which, syntactically and semantically, could be an AJ.

·      3. (Most convincing of all) PNG Panel 2 (“objabbr = PNGPan02”) has six young vassal lords, all in a kneeling position on the left of the iconography, all tagged with their names/titles:

o    Three of those six has AJ <somewhere> in their name/title, where the AJ is written with the “Flaming Ak’bal” variant, rather than with the much more usual “rectangular bar with two dots and multiple ticks” (= “A” above) variant. This shows that this particular carver was fond of using less orthodox variants.

o    One of those six has the “Flames” + K’UH glyph (= “D” above), yet again in a position which, syntactically and semantically, could be an AJ. This is PNG Panel 2 E’1-F’3/G’1-H’3 – there are two slightly different systems of glyph-block labelling, for the tags of the iconography.

o    The idea that this “Flames” + K’UH glyph is in fact AJ is hence further strengthened, based on parallelism to the other three young vassal lords with the AJ is written using the “Flaming Ak’bal” variant.

·    Four principal uses:

o AJ-<place-name>: a person from that place; Aj K’ina’ = “He of K’ina’”.

o AJ-<noun>: a seller of that noun; e.g., Aj Ixiim = “a seller of maize”.

o AJ-<verb>: a person associated with that verb; e.g., Aj Pitz = “a ballgame player”.

o AJ-<number>-BAAK: a title based on how many famous enemy warriors a person has captured, e.g., Aj Winik Baak = “He of the Twenty Captives” (with Bolon “9” perhaps meaning “many” rather than literally “nine” captives).

·    25EMC.pdfp28.#2 explains that the rectangular variant was also used as a, but the boulder variant wasn’t.

·    Zender-FA emphasizes the previous point, adding that:

o The use of the rectangular variant to write syllabogram a was a very late development anyway (post 750 AD).

o The “flaming ak’bal” was narrower in the scope of its usage than the rectangular variant, as it was used exclusively for the agentive-AJ, whereas the rectangular variant was used for (among other things) the verbal ending in the DNIG utz’akaj (where it should be viewed as acting as a rebus).

·    The “flaming ak’bal” variant is discussed (in passing) in Davletshin&Bíró-APSfT.p4.c1.para2.l-2 and (in detail) in Martin-HftPP.p62.pdfp2.col1.para2: The captions differ from those we normally see in Maya art in that they identify people by means of generic titles rather than by personal names. In most cases they follow a consistent formula and begin with AJ in one of two logographic versions. In an inversion of the normal pattern, it is the rare form—the ‘Flaming Ak’bal’ in which the sign ak’ab “darkness” sprouts fiery volutes (Zender 2005a)—which is the more common on the murals. In modern Mayan languages aj is a male agentive that can be translated as “He of ...”, but in the Classic period it was gender-neutral and applicable to both men and women (see Jackson and Stuart 2001:222). “Person” is therefore a suitable translation for us. Following aj in the formula comes the word for a particular object or material. These terms usually have direct counterparts in the painted scenes, making their role as identifying titles explicit. [Sim:

o In the famous murals of the Chik Nahb marketplace, the AJ-prefix is used for the sellers of a whole range of goods.

o Martin-HftPP lists many of them, giving as reference “CLK Structure Sub1-4”.

o EB1.p17-19.pdfp22-24 lists three of them, giving as reference “CLK N.Acr., Str.1 Mural”:

§ aj ixim “corn person”.

§ aj may “tobacco person”.

§ aj ul “atole person”.]