·    Distinguishing characteristic is the “bar-and-dot” form of “7” + main sign:

o It can be on the left or on top of the main sign.

o It (often) has no filler(s) in between the two external dots and can be beside or above the main sign, generally:

§ Beside in the head variant

§ Above in the abstract variant

But this tendency might be an illusion caused by the small sample size.

·    Gronemeyer-GGF.p6.pdfp6.fig5 has a typo where the figures are labelled a, b, c, e, f, g with accompanying text a, b, c, d, e, f for their sources – it’s safe to assume that e is actually d; f is actually e; and g is actually f

·    Variants (2) of main sign:

o A. Representational – the head of a (young?) male, divided into two halves by a horizontal line at nose level:

§ Top:

·      A bold semi- or 3/4- or full circle – a LEM-like element infixed in the top of the head.

·      A small eye, optionally with a few tiny non-touching dots in a horizonal line to the right

§ Bottom:

·      Open mouth (optionally bold lips).

·      2 vertical bars (optionally with cross-hatching in between), or just two vertical lines; alternatively, an “ajaw strap”.

·      The 2 vertical lines might just be reduced/eroded forms of the 2 vertical bars and cross-hatching, or of the “ajaw strap”.

o B. Abstract:

§ Top: left and right feeler, each with its own protector. These are very common, but absent in, for example, IXK Stela 2 A6).

§ Bottom – a SIBIK-like element with boulder outline, divided into two halves by a horizontal line:

·      Top half: 3 non-touching dots in a triangular formation, triangle pointing up.

·      Bottom half: an element resembling an “ajaw strap”, except that the main long curved vertical band is replaced or supplemented by a slightly curved arc of touching dots.

Do not confuse the abstract variant of Glyph-G₄ with the “face” variant of Glyph-G₂: they both have two “leaves” (or left and right feelers with protectors) on top, but Glyph-G₂ is definitely face/HAAB-like on the bottom, whereas Glyph-G₄ is SIBIK-like. More importantly, Glyph-G₄ always has a “7” associated with it, while Glyph-G₂ never has.  

·    The representational and abstract variants are not as independent of one another as might initially appear. The representational variant has a SIBIK-like sub-variant (DPL Stela 8 A6, above) where:

o The infixed LEM-like element in the top of the head lacks the curved internal band of LEM and could be seen as a bolded top dot of the abstract variant.

o It has a “dotted ajaw strap”.

o The vertical bars of the bottom half could be seen as a fancy form of the vertical bar of the “ajaw strap”.