·    The history of decipherment:

o Stuart-TPMhttps:/​/​www.academia.edu/​32273450/​The_​Palenque_​Mythology_​Inscriptions_​from_​the_​Cross_​Group_​at_​Palenque The Palenque Mythology - Inscriptions from the Cross Group at Palenque (Stuart; Sourcebook for the 30th Maya Meetings, March 14-19, 2006).p123 (2006) gives u-B’AAH u-CH’AB’(AK’AB’)-li è u-b’aah u-ch’ab’-ak’ab’il = "His person is the creation, the darkness of".

o EBhttps:/​/​www.mesoweb.com/​resources/​vocabulary/​index.html The Updated Preliminary Classic Maya ‐ English, English ‐ Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings (Boot; 2009) (2009) lists ch’ab-related compounds under “child (of parent)”, but not the specific ones with ak’ab.

o Kettunen&Helmke-RoBRiver of Blood - Rituals and Rivalry along the Usumacinta - MotT2020 Workbook (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020)-MotT2020Maya on the Thames (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020).p34.fig65 lists at least two (fig65k = PAL TC E3 and fig65n = YAX Stela 7 pC6), giving explicitly the meaning “child of”.

·    Kettunen&Helmke-RoBRiver of Blood - Rituals and Rivalry along the Usumacinta - MotT2020 Workbook (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020)-MotT2020Maya on the Thames (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020).p34.fig65 gives many variants of this:

o uchit uch’ab – the most basic and straightforward form.

o ubaah uchit uch’ab – to what extent is this simply “(This is the) image of the child of”? the ubaah doesn’t belong with the “child”, it’s just “the image of” (“the child’).

o usih uch’ab / usij uch’ab – is the first word the possessive of sih / sij “birth” / “gift”?

o usij uchit ch’ab.

o uch’ab ak’ab.

·    Two of the CH’ABs seem to have an infixed AK’AB (k, n. and perhaps b).

·    Two of them have the hand variant of ji (a, g) and one has the mammal head variant of ji (f).

·    Is this an example of “diphrastic kenning”, where a single concept is expressed as a phrase containing two either parallel or opposing concepts, as a metaphor or in poetic usage?

·    Kettunen&Helmke-RoBRiver of Blood - Rituals and Rivalry along the Usumacinta - MotT2020 Workbook (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020)-MotT2020Maya on the Thames (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020).p34.fig65 explains that it be found preceding the name of a male or female parent:

o Male parent: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i.

o Female parent: j, k, l, m, n.

o Not specified o-1, o-2, o-3.

·    Comments:

o b: This is possibly not chit ch’ab, but perhaps uch’ab yak’ab.

o g: The la is possibly part of ch’abil.

o i: This is a very special case. There is a rat-head glyph, but it clearly has an infixed AK’AB not K’AN. Therefore, it cannot be part of the ubaah part of the expression. Furthermore, there is a ji underneath rather than a hi on top (though that could be a result of the Late Classic merger). Sergei Vepretskii: this [= the “rat head” glyph] is in fact a very rare form of si, making this usij uchit (u)ch’ab = the child of. This is cited in Kettunen&Helmke-RoBRiver of Blood - Rituals and Rivalry along the Usumacinta - MotT2020 Workbook (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020)-MotT2020Maya on the Thames (Kettunen, Helmke; 2020).p34.fig65i.

o n: the “ni” as the very last element (bottom right) is perhaps just part of the CH’AB, not to be pronounced, same as I; the infix is more likely to be CHIT than AK’AB.

o o-3: ITB (the -B is needed in the 3-character code of the toponym/polity because there are 2 Itzimte’s – Itzimte’-Bolonchen and Itzimte’-Sacluk).

o Do not confuse this with usiij “vulture” (with a long final vowel -ii-) – this one is related to sih / sij = “birth” / “gift” (with a short final vowel -i-).

·    In the fixed combination chit ch’ab, when written as a CHIT, it is almost invariably the abstract variant (resembling lo) which is used.

Coll-2Author's image collection, Part 2 has many later versions.