Maya Symbol Set Information SYMBOLS Material from more than 80 different sources ranging over some 400 years has gone into making up this comparative vocabulary. All the data has been converted to one and the same transcription system. The conversion has not always been easy, since some sources (and not only the early ones) fail to define their symbols. For the most part, the appropriate values can nonetheless be inferred - either by internal or external comparisons. Where problems arise, I make my best guess and warn the reader by attaching a note to the entry. Other than performing these symbol conversions, I have not knowingly altered the date in any way. The conversion tables for each of the sources can be found in Volume 1 of the published vocabulary (Dienhart, 1989:140-195). These pages are also reproduced here as PDF files, directly from that volume: Conversion tables. The symbols I have used are chosen from the 7-bit ASCII set (that is, they have been selected from the first 128 characters in the ASCII table). This means that the data can be downloaded, with no alteration, to any computer whatsoever - without the use of special fonts. The actual choice of symbols was made in 1981, when keypunching began for my comparative Mayan vocabulary. Though I aimed at using one symbol for one sound, I was forced for various reasons (symbol sorting, avoidance of opacity) to make some compromises. There are thus some cases where one sound is represented by two (or more) symbols. These, and other matters dealing with symbol choices, are discussed below.   Long vowels Long vowels are represented by doubling the vowel: (<aa>, <ee>, <ii>, <oo>, <uu>).   Accented vowels Accented vowels are represented by placing an exclamation mark after the vowel in question: (<a!>, <e!>, <i!>, <o!>, <u!>).   Central vowel For those Mayan languages where a central vowel is needed, I have adopted the "caret" symbol (^), since this ASCII sign closely resembles the "tent".   Tone I have used the signs < and > to mark tone. If we let V represent any vowel, then we find the following combinations in this database: V> high tone V< low tone V>> falling tone   Use of the number sign (#) A few consonants are represented by combining a letter with <#>: c# (ch) alveopalatal affricate, as in the onset of the word chair s# (x) alveopalatal fricative, as in the onset of the word shoe t# (th) dental fricative, as in the onset of the word thin The items in parentheses indicate the corresponding symbols used by the Guatemalan standard, adopted in 1988 for all Mayan publications in Guatemala. This system appears to be gaining ground elsewhere as well. For those who have never done any symbol sorting by computer, let me explain why I have used <#> instead of the more traditional <h>. In a straightforward alphabetical list of Mayan words, all items starting with e.g. <t#> will precede all items starting with <ta>, <te>, etc. This is because the ASCII code for <#> is lower than the ASCII code for any of the letters of the English alphabet. Thus, all words starting with a dental fricative (<t#>, as in Huastec) will precede all words starting with the alveolar stop (<t>). If <th> were used instead of <t#>, the sorted sequence would yield e.g. <ta->, <te->, <th->, <ti->, <to->, <tu->. In this case, words starting with a dental fricative would appear inside the list of words starting with an alveolar stop - more particularly, they would appear after words starting with <te-> and before words starting with <ti->.   Use of capital letters Two types of consonants are represented by combining a capital letter with a small letter: nG (ng) velar nasal, as in the coda of the word song tZ (ts) alveolar affricate, similar to the coda of the word hits The same type of logic involved in the choice of <#> instead of <h> is relevant in these cases: it is related to the nature of the ASCII codes. Using <nG> for the velar nasal rather than the more traditional <ng> assures that the words starting with the velar nasal (<nG>) will not be intermixed with words starting with an alveolar nasal (<n>). Since the ASCII code for capital letters is lower than that for small letters, <nG> will precede e.g. <na>, whereas <ng> would appear between <ne> and <ni>.   Glottalization To represent glottalization, the apostrophe has been used. This produces several sequences of two (and sometimes three) symbols for one sound: p' (p') glottalized bilabial stop t' (t') glottalized alveolar stop tZ' (ts') glottalized alveolar affricate c#' (ch') glottalized alveopalatal affricate c' (k') glottalized palatal stop q' (q') glottalized velar stop Since the apostrophe has an ASCII code which is lower than the ASCII code for any of the letters of the alphabet, Mayan words starting with glottalized consonants will always precede all words starting with the non-glottalized counterpart in any traditional computer sorting process (that is, words starting with e.g. <p'> will precede words starting with <pa>, etc.).   Retroflexion Retroflexion is marked by a full stop (a period) after the consonant in question: s#. retroflexed alveopalatal fricative c#. retroflexed alveopalatal affricate c#.' retroflexed glottalized alveopalatal affricate   My use of <c> and <q> A few comments should be added about my rather untraditional choice of <c> and <q> instead of the more traditional pair <k> and <q> (or <c> and <k>). One of the most troubling symbols to deal with in the conversion process was <k>. Although those sources which used <k> always used it to represent some sort of stop, there was considerable variation in the type of stop it represented. It was used in (at least) four different ways: 1) as the back member of a front/back opposition (the front member being generally rendered as <c>); 2) as the front member of a front/back opposition (the back member being generally rendered as <q>); 3) as the glottalized member of a non-glottal/glottal opposition (the non-glottal member being generally rendered as <c>); and 4) as the non-glottalized member of a non-glottal/glottal opposition (the glottal member being generally rendered as <k'>). The result of this morass was that one never knew, without careful investigation, what value <k> had in any given instance. In my view, there was only one simple solution: throw out <k> altogether. So what symbol should be used instead? This posed no problem at all: use <c> for the front member and <q> for the back member. For the glottalized counterparts, use <c'> and <q'>, respectively. This effectively solved the problem while at the same time it made logical use of the traditional <c> (which had never been used for the back member) and the traditional <q> (which had never been used for the front member). So in my database, <c> always marks the front member of the opposition, and <q> always marks the back member. Where no opposition exists, <c> alone is used.   My use of <x> A similar problem involved the symbol <x>. Like <k> it has been used with very different values by Mayan scholars. The chief uses have been: 1) to represent an alveopalatal fricative (as in the onset of the word shoe), and 2) to represent the voiceless velar fricative. In addition, a third use has developed during the past few decades: 3) to represent the retroflexed fricative whenever this contrasted with the non-retroflexed variety (for which <xh> was commonly used). Thus the appearance of <x> in any Mayan work is potentially confusing. Again, my solution was a simple one: I decided not to use the symbol <x> at all, for any value whatsoever. For the alveopalatal fricative I adopted <s#>, and for the velar fricative I adopted <j>.   My use of <j> and <h> Where there is an opposition between a velar (or "front") fricative and a glottal (or "back") fricative, I use <j> for the front one and <h> for the back one. This is in keeping with a long tradition. Where the opposition does not exist, I use only <j>. This is a solution which is less traditional, since many sources use <h> in this case. But my solution creates a nice symmetry in the fricative and stop symbol sets: where no opposition exists, use the symbol for the sound which is most fronted. Thus, if there is no opposition between <c> and <q> in a given Mayan language (or source), I use <c>. If there is no opposition between <j> and <h>, I use <j>. A direct consequence of this, of course, is the following implication: the presence of <h> in a given language implies that <j> also exists, just as the presence of <q> implies that <c>, too, is found.   Differences between this electronic database and Dienhart (1989) The symbols described above are those which were entered into a Sperry (Univac) 1100 main-frame computer in the years 1981-1988. With the demise of this computer in 1988/89, we went to press and published the computerized material in the 3-volume work, The Mayan Languages - A Comparative Vocabulary (Odense University Press, 1989). However, thanks to the efforts and expertise of Sven Meiborg Sørensen, the data was transferred from the main-frame computer to a PC and then converted (after it was sorted) to a more normal-looking set of symbols. In particular, conversions were made which brought the data much more in line with the transcription ideal of one symbol for one sound. For example, <t#> became "theta", <nG> became the standard IPA symbol for the velar nasal, etc. For the reason cited above (simple font for general use), this Internet database is in the form which it had on the Sperry main-frame computer - simple 7-bit ASCII. Therefore, several symbols in this database are different from those appearing in the printed volumes.   Future plans We are planning to convert this database to the same format as the published volumes. This involves using a new font, however, so the converted database will not be as easily and generally accessible as the current one is. Our plan, therefore, is to provide the converted database as an alternative to, rather than as a replacement for, the current database. I might add that we also plan to add new data to this database at some point in the future. Thousands of additional entries have already been computerized, but they need a good deal of editing before they are ready to be incorporated. In the meantime, I hope that this material will be beneficial to Mayan scholars everywhere. I welcome any comments which will help improve this database. These can be sent to me at the following e-mail address:  mayamaster@it.hum.sdu.dk