Gronemeyer-AFB.p6.fig5 Gronemeyer-AFB.p7.fig6 Tsukamoto&Olguín-AW.p38.c1.para2.l+11
Komkom Vase E8 K2914 tag for “Individual 1” PLM GuzmánGroup HS Step II E1-F1
AJ.<wa:la:TE’> <yo:ko>:<wa:li> AJ.pa.ch’a wa.li
· Gronemeyer-AFB discusses how PLM GuzmánGroup HS Step II E1-F1 (Aj Pach’ Waal), Komkom Vase E8 (Aj Walte’), and K2914 tag for “Individual 1” (yok waal) show that waal means “fan”:
o Gronemeyer-AFB.p2: First a list of more than 50 cognates is given for *waal related items in the modern Maya languages (sometimes more than one item per language):
|
pM |
*wel ~ *wal |
|
(Kaufman 2003:933) |
|
WM |
wel |
|
(Kaufman 2003:933) |
|
LL |
*wal |
|
(Kaufman 2003:933) |
|
LL+ |
*wahl |
|
(Kaufman 2003:933) |
|
EpM |
wal |
fan |
(Boot 2009:197) |
|
pCh |
*wehl-ä |
abanicar // fan |
(Kaufman and Norman 1984:136) |
|
CHT |
Vaalh |
abanico |
(Morán 1695:81)1 |
|
CHR |
wahr |
fanning, winnowing, fan, fly-brush |
(Wisdom 1950:752) |
|
CHR |
wajri |
abanicar, splar, ventilar. blow, fan |
(Hull 2016:476) |
|
CHR |
wahri |
u ut fan one's face |
(Wisdom 1950:752) |
|
CHR |
wahri e k'ahk' |
fan a fire |
(Wisdom 1950:752) |
|
CHR |
wahrnib |
fan, bellows |
(Wisdom 1950:752) |
|
CHR |
wajrnib’ |
soplador, ventilador. fan |
(Hull 2016:476) |
|
CHN |
welän |
soplar (con algo) |
(Keller and Luciano 1997:281) |
|
CHN |
weli |
soplé |
(Pérez González and de la Cruz 1998:78) |
|
CHL |
welel |
tendido, plano |
(Aulie and de Aulie 1978:129) |
|
CHL |
wejlan |
soplar (con abanico) |
(Aulie and de Aulie 1978:129) |
|
CHL |
wejl-an /wejl-ö |
abanicar |
(Schumann Gálvez 1973:98) |
|
CHL |
wejl-ö-ji’ |
abanico, soplador |
(Schumann Gálvez 1973:98) |
|
YUK |
wal |
mosqueador, abanillo [nombre antiguo de abanico], aventador, abanico |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:909) |
|
YUK |
wal |
walt, fan; leaf through |
(Bricker et al. 1998:299) |
|
YUK |
wal |
mosquear o hacer aire con el mosqueador a ventable |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:910) |
|
YUK |
waltah |
abanicar, hacer aire |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:910) |
|
YUK |
wal |
hoja de arbol, de yerba, de libro o de papel, de tabaco, platanos y de cosas así |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:909) |
|
YUK |
wáal |
page [folio]; leaf |
(Bricker et al. 1998:299) |
|
YUK |
chimal wal |
abanillo [abanico] grande que hace sombra, mosquedor [sic!] [abanico] |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:100) |
|
YUK |
k'inil wal |
abanico grande que hace sombra |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:403) |
|
YUK |
yok wal |
cabo o palo de mosqueador |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:595) |
|
YUK |
wal nok’ |
figurita de trapo, muñeca de niñas para jugar |
(Barrera Vásquez 1980:912) |
|
ITZ |
waal |
palma, soplador. palm frond, fan of feathers for fire |
(Hofling and Tesucún 1997:661) |
|
ITZ |
waläl |
extenderse, tenderse, colgarse, mecerse (con aire). extend, spread out, hang out, sway (in wind) |
(Holfing and Tesucún 1997:657) |
|
MOP |
waal |
soplador, abanico |
(Ulrich and Ulrich 1976:234) |
|
MOP |
waal |
soplador |
(Schumann Gálvez 1997:247) |
|
MOP |
waal |
hoja de palma de tierra. young palm frond |
(Hofling 2011:454) |
|
MOP |
waal |
soplador, abanico. fan |
(Hofling 2011:454) |
|
MOP |
|
soplador. fanner |
(Hofling 2011:112) |
|
TZE |
uelvioghib |
aventador, mosqueador |
(de Ara 1986:405) |
|
TZE |
wel- |
abanicar |
(Robles Uribe 1962:77) |
|
TZE |
wehluyel |
abanicar, aventar |
(Slocum and Gerdel 1965:199) |
|
TZO |
veluy |
fan, winnow. aventar |
(Laughlin 1988:327) |
|
TZO |
velulan |
brandish or shake (lance). blandear, sacudir como lanza |
(Laughlin 1988:327) |
|
TZO |
veluyab pech’ |
fan, flyswatter. aventador o mosqueador |
(Laughlin 1988:327) |
|
TZO |
vel |
cut /weeds underbrush/, fan, lop off /branches/ |
(Laughlin 1975:367) |
|
TOJ |
wejl |
soplar, abanicar |
(Kaufman 2003:933) |
|
CHJ |
wel (te’) |
Plant name. < Spanish ”barrumba.” Cecropia sp. |
(Hopkins 2012:380) |
|
QAN |
wel |
Arbol [sic!] de madera suave y hojas brillosas |
(de Diego Antonio et al. 2001:338) |
|
QAN |
Welb’al |
Objeto que se usa para soplar fuego |
(Com. Ling. Q’anjob’al 2003:162) |
|
POP |
Welnhe’ |
Abanicar. Ventilar |
(Ramírez Pérez et al. 1996:309) |
|
QEQ |
Uaal |
1- soplador 2- hoja, sello, alas de mariposa |
(Haeserijn 1979:356) |
|
QEQ |
Uaaluunc |
1- soplar, avivar el fuego con soplador 2- volar (como la mariposa) |
(Haeserijn 1979:357) |
|
PQM |
valeh |
aviar de Abanillo |
(Feldman 2000:430) |
|
PCH |
wahlanik |
abanicar |
(de Sedat 2001:812) |
|
PCH |
wahb’al |
abanico |
(de Sedat 2001:812) |
|
PCH |
wahloom |
soplador |
(Dobbels 2003:766) |
o Gronemeyer-AFB.p3-4: […] When grouping together the meanings of wal ~ wel in the different languages, three partially overlapping semantic domains can be identified:
§ 1) Floral: A variety of trees and underbrush, especially their leaves, e.g., palm fronds.
§ 2) Flat: Anything with a level surface, e.g., leaves, sheets, or feathers.
§ 3) Movement: Anything moving up/down or left/right, especially when swirling the air, e.g., leaves, wings, and their artificial counterparts such as fans or fronds; and the action of moving in this way.
Of special interest is the Chuj entry that identifies wel as the genus Cecropia, the trumpet tree. Its fan-like, circular, lobed leaves and candelabrum-like branches resemble the large, rounded fans and parasols on long shafts that are known from Maya iconography (Figure 2). With this information, the less specific entry from Q’anjobal also might refer to the same species. Furthermore, it is possible that the name of this tree was extended to cultural artifacts of similar shape and movement patterns, including Classic Maya fans depicted as either flat (e.g., on K2914, Figures 1 and 6) or with a bent profile (e.g., on K5763, Figure 2b). A third type seems to be more like a parasol, with a circular or conical outline attached to a handle with a flexible joint (e.g., on Site R Lintel 3, Figure 2c; note the almost three-dimensional rendering of the braid).2 The question of whether fly-whisks made of feathers or strips of paper or palm, which are frequently represented in iconography (Figure 3), were also named waal in Classic Mayan cannot be answered based on present linguistic evidence, e.g., from Ch’orti’, Yukatek, Itzaj or, Tzotzil.
o Gronemeyer-AFB.p5.para2.l+1: Apart from the courtly function to be discussed shortly, the lexeme waal only appears in two other contexts. The first is the designation of a person as Aj Pach’ Waal on the hieroglyphic stairway of Structure GZ1 of the Guzmán Group to the north of the site centre of El Palmar, Campeche, Mexico (Tsukamoto and Esparza Olguín 2014). The phrase appears twice in the inscription (Step II, E-F; Step IV, R-S) (Figure 4). Epigraphic analysis of the monument suggests that Aj Pach’ Waal was a lakam official and that he dedicated the stairway in AD 726 in the presence of the El Palmar ruler and possibly Yuhknoom Took’ K’awiil of Calakmul as well …
o Gronemeyer-AFB.p6.para1: The lexeme pach’ is predominantly attested in Western Mayan languages with the meaning ‘(make) flat’, ‘crush’, ‘press’ or the like Ch’orti has some very intriguing compounds with nouns following to describe certain, more specific actions (Wisdom 1950:562): pach’ k’uhtz ‘tobacco-pressing’, pach’mut ‘bird trapping’, or pach’i e ich ‘crush chilli (in a bowl)’. Like other actions, these can also be prefixed by an agentive to derive a profession, e.g., ah pach’mut ‘bird trapper’. Therefore, it seems less likely that Aj Pach’ Waal from El Palmar is a personal name (also considering an agentive prefix). As a lakam or an official in charge of collecting tributes for the royal court (Lacadena 2008), he probably received emissaries for audience at Structure GZ1, as the text on the stairway lists his predecessors in office (Tsukamoto and Esparza Olguín 2014:39). In addition, he might have carried out the profession of a fan and/or basket maker there.
o Gronemeyer-AFB.p6.para2: The second known context for waal in Classic Maya inscriptions is on the so-called Komkom Vase, where it is synharmonically written wa-la and used within the toponymic title Aj Wal-te’ (Figure 5). It is the only mention of this locality in the corpus (Helmke, Hoggarth, and Awe 2018:61). Like the authors of the study of this ceramic vessel, I consider the Chuj entry for wal cited previously as a likely etymology for this designation, or alternatively any larger palm species that once may also have been named wal te’ (see also the study of the generic xan, Prager and Wagner 2016).
o A summary of what Gronemeyer-AFB has to say about the K2914 example would be good.
o Sim: Aj Pach’ Waal would hence appear to mean “he of flattening the fan”, perhaps referring to the flattening of the palm leaves to make a fan.
o Cerezo-Román&Tsukamoto-TLCoaSB gives many more details about Aj Pach’ Waal’s life.
o Smith-AMAGRHSDL provides a 3-page summary.