·     Meaning:

o HIX is considered to be an ocelot by many (K&H, K&L, BMM9, 25EMC), but this is not universally accepted.

o Another proposed distinction is that BAHLAM is a regular, real-life jaguar and HIX is a mythological one. AT-E1168-lecture9.t0:04:10-05:23: A simple illustration of that is the two jaguars. So, there were two words for jaguar in Classic Maya inscriptions. One of them is hix and the other one is bahlam. Only one of the jaguars is a “real” jaguar. So, bahlam is a word for a jaguar that you can find in the forest today. It is reconstructable to Proto-Mayan. But the <unclear> jaguar in Mayan languages today is called ix. And there are plenty of hix-jaguars in Classic Maya inscriptions. Now a hix-jaguar does not exist from the point of [view of] Linnaean biology – it’s not a real animal. It’s a magical jaguar, it’s a special jaguar. It’s sort of like a dragon of the Maya jaguar world. Some Mayanists sort of in vain try to think of it as a kind of subspecies of jaguar, assuming that there was a different subspecies. Some people think of it as a feline, as an ocelot. There are different words for “ocelot” in the Mayan languages, but they’re not hix. So there are these special terms – special vocabulary – in the language of the Classic Maya inscriptions that reflect, that corresponds to its special function as a ritual language.

·     The printed edition of JM has these listed under j-, but the online edition has moved them to h- in accordance with later insights.

·     Variants (2):

o A. Stylized – features:

§ Boulder divided into two halves by a slightly curved horizontal line (lower in the middle than at the ends):

·       Above: grass blades (or multiple ticks).

·       Below: 3 non-touching dots in a triangular formation, pointing down.

o B. Representational – features:

§ Jaguar head with mammal ear.

§ 1 or 2 fangs.

§ (Optional) darkness.

§ Jaguar spots.

§ Eye:

·          3 dots in a triangular formation, pointing down, or

·          The entire stylized variant.