·    This is a phrase commonly found in the PSS of ceramic vases.

·    Dütting&Johnson-TRRtNSaGL.p176.pdfp7 (1993) gives, in reference to K1398 PSS-9 (here called glyph-block I), ti.<yu:ta>.la? è ti y-ut-al = “for his sustenance/food”. [Sim: This was seen at the time as a possessive y- inflection on ut, rather than an unpossessed yut.]

·    EB1.p214.pdfp 219 (2009) gives: yutal “food”, “fruit”. [Sim: “food” appears to be the more common translation.]

·    More recent sources give yutal as “fruity” or “fruit”:

o BeliaevEtAl-SCaSA.p258.pdfp2.para3 (2009): The most common kind of cacao mentioned in dedicatory inscriptions on Classic Maya ceramics is yutal kakaw, which is usually spelled yu-ta-la or yu-ta (Fig. 1). Barbara Macleod interpreted it as “cacao food/sustenance” based on reconstructed root *ut “food” (Reents-Budet et al. 1994b:75, 161). This interpretation is widely accepted among the epigraphers.

o BeliaevEtAl-SCaSA.p260.pdfp4.para2: In the PSS, we find at least fourteen examples where another attributive is inserted between yutal and kakaw. In twelve cases, it is iximte’el and in one case it is ho’ kab’ – a reference to a mixture of “five honeys” or a place name associated with the archeological site of Ixtutz (Stuart 2006:194, Fig. 9.10). The inscription on the unprovenanced vessel photographed by Justin Kerr (Kerr n.d.:K625; Stuart 2006:194 196, Fig. 9.11) is of particular significance because it contains an expanded version of the collocation: yuch’ib’ ta yuta[l] k’an kakaw “his drinking vessel for yutal ripe cacao.” In this context, yutal clearly functions as an adjective. Consequently, -al can be analyzed as an adjectival suffix or as a nominal suffix deriving a noun that designates a more specific or general category of fruits. Both yutir and yutar for “fruit” are attested in Ch’orti’ (see above). Therefore, we believe that the phrase ta yutal kakaw should be translated “for fruity cacao” or “for fruit cacao.”

o BeliaevEtAl-SCaSA.p260.pdfp4.para4: What kind of drink might a “fruity cacao” be? The common assumption about Classic Maya cacao beverages is that those were various kinds of chocolate or drinks made from cacao beans. In line with this assumption, a “fruity cacao” would be a kind of chocolate drink with some fruit flavors. There can be other interpretations. One of the common forms of traditional cacao drinks in Highland Guatemala today is the so-called “refresco de pocha” or a beverage made from the pulp of the cacao pod itself that can be consumed fresh or allowed to ferment (McNeil 2006:345–346). If Classic Maya “fruity cacao” is a drink from fresh or fermented cacao pods, then it is not chocolate at all. However, this hypothesis would have to be proved by means of residue analysis or other techniques applied to “fruity cacao” vessels found in secure archeological context (e.g., McNeil et al. 2006).

o There is a refutation of the idea that the y- might be a possessive – BeliaevEtAl-SCaSA.p260.pdfp4.para3: Stuart (2006:188) expressed doubts that yutal could mean “fruity” because of a rare phrase ’uyutal kelem (“the yutal of the young man”) on the carved vessel from Yucatan published by Dütting (1992: Fig. 17). However, this is clearly part of the owner’s title: chak-ch’ok winik ’u-yutal kele’m. A similar title appears on the unprovenanced plate (Kerr n.d.:K6080) that probably came from El Zotz. The inscription on plate K6080 explicitly states that its content has nothing to do with cacao or drinking because this is an “eating utensil” (we’ib’) for tamales with deer meat (Zender 2000). Consequently, these instances of yutal are not counterexamples for translating yutal kakaw as “fruit(y) cacao” because their contexts are vastly different. [Sim: K5452 and K6080 are two vases where Yutal is a title followed by Kelem.]

o AT-YT2021-lecture11.t0:25:39 glosses K1398 PSS-9-10 ti.<yu:ta>.la {²}ka.wa è ti yutal kakaw = “for fruity cacao”.