C.1. General Remarks on the Concordance

1. As noted on the Home page, the main content of the site is the CMGG entries; these are linked from the last column. See C.2(a) below and the CMGG Help for more information on these. Not all rows have a link to a CMGG entry. This is mostly because, for completeness, the Concordance contains a row(s) for each Thompson number, Bonn number, and MHD code and some of these do not have known readings. To see just the rows that have CMGG entries, sort on the last column by clicking on its heading (however, see the next item).
2. If you are just looking for a word or syllable, it is usually better to use the Home page CMGG grids because the Concordance page is glyph-based and so has multiple occurrences of many words and syllables (e.g. if they occur under several Thompson/Bonn numbers or MHD codes). Exceptions are cases where a word does not appear on the Home page or has some alternative reading not given there.
3. The default row order of the Concordance table, which can be recovered at any time by reloading the page in the browser, is determined by:
   • Thompson number first;
   • then Bonn numbers that extend past the Thompson numbers (past T1087);
   • then MHD codes that are not matched to any Thompson or Bonn number, listed alphabetically (see here for the significance of the codes);
   • lastly, the CMGG entries that have not appeared on any previous row: these occur alphabetically.
   This order can be changed by sorting on different columns, as discussed on the Concordance page itself.
4. The drawings given by Thompson and Bonn for their signs, while based on real-world occurrences, have been somewhat idealized, both to smooth out and regularize lines and to capture what they regard as essential features of the glyph. The MHD drawings represent, by contrast, actual instances of glyphs on a specific real-world monument, piece of pottery, or other artifact. These drawings are from the MHD Catalog. By using the MHD code given under an MHD example, drawings of all of the cataloged instances of the glyph across thousands of inscriptions on real-world objects can be found in the main part of MHD.
5. The spellings given for the Bonn, MHD, and CMGG entries are those provided by their respective authors and so the same conceptual "word" may appear in slightly different forms in the table entries. See 2(a)(ii) and D.5(c) below for more on this.
6. Thompson did not provide readings or translations for most of the glyphs he identified (indeed the major progress in Maya decipherment did not take place until after publication of his work). Bonn has so far not provided translations either and so the only translations given are from MHD and CMGG.
7. The choice of which Thompson, Bonn, MHD and CMGG items occur together on the same row is explained in the next section.

1. Thompson Images. Some of the images for the glyphs are quite small, so a zoom facility has been provided to enable examination of their details when wanted. Just place your cursor on the graphic to activate the zoom and move it away to restore. You can of course also right-click on the image and open it in a new tab, where you can magnify it as much as you want with Ctrl-scroll and also drag the tab out of that window to create a new one alongside for comparisons.

   Thompson's original 1962 publication is available online (need to log in and borrow). It includes, for most glyphs, lists Thompson collected of where the glyphs were known to occur. Some points regarding the Thompson glyphs:

   1. The glyphs for Thompson (and Bonn) numbers 1-370 are "affixes". Each drawing typically contains several versions of an affix. These are placed around a square that represents a "main" glyph (those from 500 onwards, called "main signs" by Thompson) to which the affix would be attached (the square itself is not part of the affix). The part indicators a, b, ... typically refer to the glyph variations starting on the left of the square (9 o'clock position) and proceeding clockwise around it. In this case, the intention is that each version of the affix is "fully rotatable", that is, it can appear in any position, not just the illustrated one.
   2. In some cases, the different versions of an affix are not given in the usual clockwise placement. This indicates that Thompson believed, based on the examples he had collected, that the affix only occurred in a certain position(s) relative to the sign to which it was attached. This would typically be vertical (left or right) only or horizontal (top or bottom) only, but sometimes as specific as only on the left (prefix), only on the top (superfix), only on the right (suffix), or only on the bottom (subfix). For example, T97ab shows two versions of an affix that are only expected be seen vertically and T98ab gives two that are only expected horizontally.
   3. Sometimes affixes are shown, for economy, with just a vestige of the square, to still indicate typical placement of the affix (again, the vestigial square part is not part of the affix). For example, the T100c sign is being shown as expected only as a prefix (otherwise it would have been combined with the T100ab drawing). Similarly, T241 is indicated as being only a subfix.
   4. This all having been said, and while some of the restricted placements make sense in terms of what the affix represents, Thompson was operating off a smaller set of data than is available today. Also, the carvers and writers of Maya inscriptions were often very creative. Therefore, one may occasionally find the affixes in positions other than those given by Thompson.
   5. More generally, while the glyphs for affixes and main signs are the building blocks of Maya writing, the basic unit in most inscriptions is the "glyph block". This is a combination of several glyphs within a square or rectangle, and again the individual glyphs may be creatively represented and positioned, including placement of one glyph inside another (infixing), merging of two glyphs (conflation), partial obscurement by other glyphs, relative size change of constituent glyph parts, etc. There have also been cases discovered where glyphs identified by Thompson as affixes have independent occurrences (i.e., are "main signs").
2. Bonn Images and Readings. These are from Bonn University's Dictionary of Classic Mayan project, partially released in late 2022, with subsequent incremental additions. This extension of the Thompson numbers incorporates signs found and the enormous progress in Maya decipherment made since Thompson's 1962 book (MHD has also done this: see the next subsection).
   1. Generally, the Bonn images are matched to the Thompson images with the same number, when they exist. Exceptions are when there are several parts for a Thompson number (indicated by a,b,c,...) and some of these are now understood to represent different words/glyphs. Bonn does not use the same idea of parts for a number and uses a Thompson number for only a single word/glyph (family). Therefore, Bonn numbers past the 1087 limit of Thompson numbers may correspond to some of the different parts of Thompson numbers. A few such instances are given in our LMGGC Concordance when they seem clear enough, but no concordance has yet been published by the Bonn project, so these are not official. Furthermore, many correspondences intended by Bonn are no doubt missing in the LMGGC Concordance. Conversely, because by default all parts of a Thompson number are matched to the Bonn number that is the same, the matches for some parts may not be what Bonn intends. Again, we have tried to remove obvious mismatches, but there are likely quite a few remaining.
   2. Some Thompson numbers have no corresponding Bonn number, presumably because they have now been recognized as being subsumed by other Thompson numbers, or are now considered to be made up of combinations of other Thompson numbers rather than being independent glyphs.
   3. For Bonn numbers, when there is an "st" (standard) variant, that is the one given in the Concordance. When there is more than one variant for a Bonn number, there is a "more" link under the image to display the full set. By default, this will appear in a popup at the top left of the screen, but as usual you can right-click on the link and choose to open it in a tab or whole new full-functionality window instead.
   4. Because, as mentioned above, a few Bonn numbers past 1087 have been matched to parts of Thompson numbers, the Bonn Image column is not completely in numerical order. Sorting on the column (click on its header) will show all the Bonn glyphs in order, and without non-Thompson-matched gaps (use the browser to reload the page to restore the original order).
3. MHD Images, Readings, and Translations. These are from the MHD Catalog, released in early 2022, with subsequent incremental additions. The drawings are by Matthew Looper, except codical examples are by Martha Macri. The completely new Looper-Macri sign classification system (MHD codes) formed the foundation for the massive undertaking (substantially achieved, but still being enlarged) to make a database of all known Classic Maya and Maya codex inscriptions. This is the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (MHD), which can be searched for free. To search effectively, one needs to use the MHD code(s) for the glyph(s) of interest. Therefore, if you have found a glyph of interest using T-number or word search, finding the MHD code given on the same row can provide a large number of additional real-world examples and other information. See here for further information on searching MHD.
   1. MHD glyphs are matched to Thompson numbers based on the concordance given on the last six pages of the Glyph Dwellers R71 report and updates reflected in the MHD Catalog, as well as subsequent communication with Matthew Looper. For now, MHD glyphs are matched to Bonn numbers past the 1087 Thompson limit by this (LMGGC) website's creators, who take full responsibility for any errors or omissions. This matching will be updated when Bonn and/or MHD publishes a concordance relating their systems.

   2. Some MHD glyphs have more than one variant. In this case, there is a "more" link under the glyph image and clicking on it will display the full set. By default, this will appear in a popup at the top left of the screen. This popup is separate from the popup that may exist for the corresponding Bonn glyph and can be moved slightly to see both at once. As usual, instead of a popup, you can right-click on the "more" link and choose to open it instead in a tab or whole new, full-functionality window.

4. CMGG Entries.
   1. The CMGG entries given on a row are based primarily on the Bonn and/or MHD readings for their glyphs that appear on the row (see C.2(c) below for how these are chosen). Generally, a CMGG entry is given corresponding to each reading given by Bonn and MHD, even when these may not agree. This is to help the user assess the given readings.

   2. The spelling used for a CMGG entry link may differ from that given by Bonn or MHD (which may themselves differ from each other and from other authors). This is because the exact pronunciation of Classic Maya words (as used over a thousand years ago) is not always known and even when agreed on, different Mayanists use different spelling conventions. Typical variations include presence, loss, or substitution of "H", "J" and the glottal stop, and the use of doubled letters to indicate long vowels.

   3. In some cases, a CMGG entry is given on a row in addition to those corresponding to the Bonn and/or MHD readings, or even when no Bonn or MHD reading exists. These are cases where the CMGG author feels the given CMGG entry is nevertheless relevant to the glyph(s) on the row. Conversely, some rows have readings given by Bonn and/or MHD but no CMGG entry. This is because the CMGG author is not familiar with that particular glyph, because it has not occurred in inscriptions that he has studied thus far. Updates will be made in future releases, corresponding to future editions of the CMGG.

The table below has a summary of possible ways to search for glyphs. More detail on some aspects is given following the table.

1. Basic search. The most basic search for anything on the front or other site page is, as with any website, by using Ctrl-F. Some browsers, such as Firefox, natively support case-sensitive and whole-word searching, which is useful for finding logogram names (traditionally written in all-caps), including CMGG logogram entries (see D.5(c) below for more search tips on these), and for MHD codes. Other browsers, such as Chrome, only support such searching via add-ons (see Regex search below).
2. Thompson numbers. Thompson numbers often appear in books and articles in a form like T638. To search the Home Page grids for this, just search (Ctrl-F) for T638. This will often find the T-number, but it does not for T638. This is because not every Thompson glyph has a corresponding CMGG entry (for example, some are still undeciphered). For this reason, when searching for a Thompson number, it may be more efficient to just start with the Concordance, which does have all of the Thompson glyphs.
   
   To search the Concordance for a Thompson number, for example T638, just search (Ctrl-F) for T638. There may be more than one row with the same number because some Thompson numbers have parts that are split across rows. However, the rows will be grouped together unless you have sorted the table (use the browser to reload the page before searching in that case).
3. MHD codes. Searching the Home Page for MHD codes is easy: just search for the three-letter code. This will often be a unique string on the page, but sometimes may be part of some other text: using case-sensitive or whole-word search (native in Firefox and available by add-on for Chrome, etc. (see D.6 below)) can help with this. As with Thompson numbers (see above), not all MHD codes occur on the Home Page, so you may want to search the Concordance instead. Many MHD codes occur on only one row, but some do occur more often.
4. Syllabograms. These are given in the Syllabograms grid on the Home Page. The grid displays only one example for each syllabogram, but the linked CMGG entries give many variants. Additional variants may sometimes be found by using the T-numbers, Bonn numbers, and MHD codes given in the grid cell for a syllable. This can be done by searching for them in the Concordance or, in the case of MHD codes, searching the MHD database.
   
   Searching the Concordance using just a syllabogram name, for example "a" or "ma", will usually yield too many results. For this reason, syllabograms in the Concordance have been given MHD "translations" like "syllabogram-a" in the MHD Translations column. Furthermore, that expression has been put first if there is more than one translation. Because the double-quote sorts before other symbols, sorting the MHD Translations column will give all the rows involving syllabograms at the top of the table. To get to syllabograms beyond "syllabogram-a", you can either scroll down or search for "syllabogram-x", or just "gram-x" (no quotes and with x of course replaced by the syllable you're after, for example "gram-ma"). This "gram-x" search can of course be done even without sorting the MHD Translations column beforehand, but you will then usually need to go through a number of hits. (If you do sort the MHD Translations column, remember that you can regain the original table row order by reloading the page).
5. Logograms. As noted elsewhere, and as can be seen from the table entries, the spelling (transliteration) of a Maya logogram can vary depending on the author of the work where it occurs. Spelling conventions have also changed over time, as has the very "reading" of some logograms and their accepted meaning(s). Because progress in Maya decipherment has been so rapid over the last decades, if you're searching for something using spelling in a source from more than a few years ago, be prepared to find something totally unrelated to what was under discussion. Fortunately, for this very reason (and because of an initial lack of decipherments), many academic works provide Thompson numbers (T-numbers) for symbols mentioned, and these have never changed. Similarly, if an academic work mentions the MHD code for a symbol, then that can be used for searching. See D.2 and D.3 above for searching for Thompson numbers and MHD codes. For more on searching for a logogram name / word based only its spelling, see (c) below. Some additional tips:
   1. Having found a Home Page grid cell or Concordance row by T-number, MHD code, or an actual spelling of a Maya word, do not be alarmed if the glyph shown in the source does not seem to match what is there. If the source is discussing a real-world occurrence of a glyph, then the shape may differ greatly from the canonical version or example (see C.2(b)(v) above). CMGG entries will usually provide additional variants for it, some of which may be closer to the source occurrence. In the Concordance, if there are Bonn and/or MHD images on the row that have "more" under them, then you can also check their popups for variants.
   2. In the Concordance, to find all rows for a given word / CMGG entry, first sort on the CMGG entry column (click on its header) before searching. This will usually group together all rows with the word. Searching for the word (even by T-number or MHD code) will then lead to the group of rows for the word. While all CMGG links for a word (or syllabogram) lead to the same CMGG entry, when a word or syllabogram occurs on more than one row, each row may provide additional associated information. In particular, different MHD codes for a word allow one to search the MHD database for more real-world occurrences of the word. The only caveat regarding grouping rows for the same word by sorting is that in case the word occurs on a row with multiple CMGG entries, if the word does not occur first then it probably will not be grouped with the other rows. To make sure there are no other occurrences of a word on the page, go to the last row of a group and search from there for the word (better if using a regular expression search).
   3. When searching for a logogram name / word "from scratch", it is usually best to start with a case-sensitive search with the word in all-caps (that is how logogram names are represented on the site). If a first search does not yield a result, or is obviously not the desired one, you can try to:
      • change to a case-insensitive search, in case the word has only a syllabogram spelling or is part of a phrase (these are given in the Home Page grids in lowercase italics);
      • change short vowels (single vowel letters) to long (double the vowel letter), or vice versa;
      • substitute H, J or ' with one of the other two, or delete them (but not following a vowel at the end of a word, because logogram names hardly ever end in a vowel);
      • change CH to K or vice versa;
      • change a vowel followed by H to a doubled vowel and remove the H (but not at the end of a word), or vice versa.

      If you know the meaning / translation of the word, then you can search for that, although the translations given in the Home Page grid cells or last two columns of the Concordance may use different English words than you have thought of. In any case, use a case-insensitive search.

      If searching the Home Page or Concordance is not yielding results, you can try searching the full CMGG PDFs: see D.7 just below.

6. Regex search. If you use Chrome or another browser that does not immediately support case-sensitive and whole-word searching, it is highly recommended to add on a "regular expression" (regex / RE) search facility. This allows not only case-sensitive and whole-word search (use the regular expression ^ABC$ to find ABC only as a whole word, not embedded in another string), but also searching with wildcards and so forth.
7. CMGG search. Searching across all of CMGG to find, for example, any entries in which a certain piece of text, name, alternative spelling or old reading occurs can only be achieved currently by searching the PDF version of CMGG.
8. Glyphs with a certain visual appearance. If you have in mind a certain glyph but cannot recall its reading (or maybe it doesn't have one), but you recall some of its shape / characteristics, all may not be lost. Some approaches:
   1. Using the MHD classification system. To the extent that the characteristics you recall fit the MHD classification system, you can look for the glyph among those with MHD codes starting with the relevant two-letter category indicator. For example, if you recall that the glyph you're looking for contains a snake, you can look at the glyphs with MHD codes starting with AC. In some cases, you can do this in the Concordance by sorting the MHD Images column, and then scrolling or searching for the start of the group. However, because many MHD codes have several variants ("more" link), it can be tedious to bring all of these up and it may be easier to scan visually through the fully laid-out set given in the MHD glyph catalog. These are arranged alphabetically by code, so it is easy to search the PDF (use Ctrl-F) to find the first occurrence of, for example, "AC".

      Keep in mind, however, that, for example, something you regard as "snake-like" may be classified not as AC* but under something else, often in the groups starting with X or Z. In the case of the snake, there is a very distinctive glyph containing a snake that is classified under BP (birds - parrots) because the main form (BP5) involves a macaw, of which only the eye is given in this variant (there is a snake in its center). Also, a very few symbols given in this table have been retired, and a couple added (AAG, ZHN, maybe others), since publication.

   2. Scanning the Thompson glyphs. Again this can be done by scrolling down the Concordance, but it may be faster and easier on your wrist to visually scan the Thompson glyph catalog.
   3. Scanning the Bonn glyphs. Again, because the Bonn glyphs have variants, if you're resorting to a visual scan, it probably makes sense to use the table at https://classicmayan.org/zeichenkatalog. This has filters which may be useful in reducing the number of glyphs to scan, for example if you know that the glyph does have a deciphered reading.