Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs: XIX European Maya Conference Bratislava 2014 1

During the past few decades we have witnessed groundbreaking developments in the field of Maya epigraphy. The purpose of this handbook is to provide an introduction to the study of Maya hieroglyphs and is designed to be used in conjunction with Maya hieroglyphic workshops. It is our objective to summarize and render comprehensibly the recent developments of Maya epigraphy (i.e. hieroglyph studies). The audience targeted is that of beginners attending Maya hieroglyphic workshops. The authors wish to receive any possible comments on the contents and structure of this handbook in order for us to be able to produce improved versions in the future. Readers of this handbook are advised to realize, as noted above, that this introduction is intended to be used in combination with the workshops provided, i.e. the handbook only presents a skeleton of the writing system, and to get the best out of the current volume, the reader is suggested to participate in the workshops and lectures provided by numerous individuals and institutes around the world offering workshops on the Ancient Maya script. I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 8 1. History of Decipherment ................................................................................................................................... 9 2. Origins of the Maya Script .............................................................................................................................. 12 3. Language(s) of the Hieroglyphs ..................................................................................................................... 13 II THE WRITING SYSTEM ............................................................................................................................................. 14 4. Conventions of Transliterating and Transcribing Maya Texts .................................................................. 14 5. Reading Order .................................................................................................................................................. 16 6. Compound Glyphs, Infixing, and Conflations ............................................................................................ 17 7. Logograms ......................................................................................................................................................... 18 8. Syllabograms / Phonograms ........................................................................................................................... 19 9. Phonetic Complements .................................................................................................................................... 19 10. Semantic Determinatives and Diacritical Signs ......................................................................................... 20 11. Polyvalence: Polyphony and Homophony ................................................................................................. 20 12. Number of Known Hieroglyphs .................................................................................................................. 22 III GRAMMAR ............................................................................................................................................................... 24 13. Word Order ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 14. Verbs ................................................................................................................................................................. 26 15. Nouns and Adjectives .................................................................................................................................... 26 16. Pronominal System ........................................................................................................................................ 27 IV TYPICAL STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF THE TEXTS ............................................................................................. 30 17. Monumental Inscriptions .............................................................................................................................. 30 18. Ceramics .......................................................................................................................................................... 30 19. Codices ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 20. Portable Artefacts ........................................................................................................................................... 39