CMGG entry for xukal naah      (This article is part of the Learner's Maya Glyph Guide and Concordance.)

Alternative readings: (TZ'IKAL NAAH)
Translation: Bonampak? (EG)
Part of speech: Noun

Spellings of xukal naah

A drawing of a house  Description automatically generated with low confidence

Martin-AMP.p395.pdfp419.r2.c1

xu.<ka:la:NAAH>

 

                                                                                                                       

Stuart                                                    Stuart                                        Stuart                                        Stuart                                               Coll-1

PNG Panel 2 B’3                                  PNG Panel 2 E’3                      PNG Panel 2 G’3                      PNG Panel 2 K’3                             YAX HS3 Step 1 B3

<<xu:<ka.la>>.NAAH>:AJAW             <xu:<ka.la>>.NAAH                <xu:<ka.la>>.NAAH                <xu:<ka.la>>.NAAH                        <xu:ka:la:NAAH>.<AJAW:wa>

 

·     Pronunciation:

o There is uncertainty as to whether the head of the leaf-nosed bat should be read as tz’i or xu. (or perhaps even SUUTZ’).

o TOK (2017) glosses the dictionary entry of the bat-head as SUUTZ'/tz'i/xu? and has TOK.p2.para2.l-4: The sign that looks like a head of a bat, for instance, has two confirmed readings in distinct contexts: a logogram SUUTZ' "bat" and a syllabogram tz'i. The third reading – a syllabogram xu – is plausible, but less well-proven. The corresponding catalog entry will show all these readings underneath the character.

o AT-YT2021-lecture22.t0:37:36: Tz’ikal Naah is what is shown on the slide, and Tokovinine also reads it out as that. This is because the head of the leaf-nosed bat can be read as xu or tz’i.

o AT-YT2021-lecture25.t0:01:50: Tz’ikalnaah is what is shown on the slide (though Tokovinine does not read this part out).

o Martin-AMP (2020) glosses it with xukalnaah? rather than tz’ikalnaah?.

o Wagner-APMotXET.p3-7 discusses the subtleties of the “Xukalnaah” toponym. In particular, that the “bat-head glyph” has multiple readings – as SUUTZ’, xu, or tz’i. In many cases (including this one) it has not been determined which of these readings is the appropriate one. So the reading “Xukalnaah” (instead of “Suutz’kalnaah” or “Tz’ikalnaah”) is tentative, for convenience, as being perhaps the most likely reading (based on personal preference).

·     In the Martin-AMP.p395.r2.c1 example, the wa under the xu is not part of the PMS, but a phonetic complement for AJAW.

·     PNG Panel 2 B’3 & E’3 & G’3 & K’3. While the main text has the obvious glyph-block labels, there are two slightly different systems of glyph-block labelling for the six kneeling vassal ajaws:

o Schele&Miller-BoK:

§ Continues with Y-Z for the first.

§ Goes to A’-B’ to I’‑J’ for the remaining five.

§ Ends with K’-L’ for the son of the ruler.

o Pitts-BHPN:

§ Omits the use of Y-Z altogether.

§ Begins with A’-B’ to K’-L’ for the six.

§ Ends with M’-N’ for the son of the ruler.

The PNG Panel 2 labels above follow the Pitts-BHPN convention. The examples are from the names of four of them: #1, #3, #4, and #6.

·     Tokovinine-TPoP has 56 mentions of Xukal (7 as Xukalnaah, 48 as Xukal Naah, 1 as Xukal<NewLine>Naah). Tokovinine-TPoP.p222.table6.16 gives an overview of monuments/inscriptions (13 in number) where Xukal Naah lords are associated with different toponyms: Sak Lakal, Bubul Ha', Xukal Naah, Usiij Witz, and ?Patal.

·     Tokovinine-PaIiCMN has 31 mentions of Xukal. 10 as Xukal/Tz’ikal Naah (but only 8 show up in the search because two of them has a Xukal<NewLine>/Tz’ikal), 14 as Xukal Naah (when quoting other works), 6 as Xukal<NewLine>Naah, and 1 more (can’t find).