The ### , x, of the Maya alphabet is a hand pointing downward ### ,
this, reduced to its elements, would be expressed some thing like this,
### or ### ; and this is very much like the x of the archaic Phoenician,
### ; or the Moab stone, ### ; or the later Phoenician ### or the Hebrew
### , ### , or the old Greek, ### : the later Greek form was ### .
The Maya alphabet contains no sign for the letter s; there is, however,
a symbol called ca immediately above the letter k; it is probable that
the sign ca stands for the soft sound of c, as, in our words citron,
circle, civil, circus, etc. As it is written in the Maya alphabet ca,
and not k, it evidently represents a different sound. The sign ca is
this, ### . A somewhat similar sign is found in the body of the symbol
for k, thus, ### , this would appear to be a simplification of ca, but
turned downward. If now we turn to the Egyptian letters we find the sign
k represented by this figure ### , simplified again into ### ; while the
sign for k in the Phoenician inscription on the stone of Moab is ### .
If now we turn to the s sound, indicated by the Maya sign ca, ### , we
find the resemblance still more striking to kindred European letters.
Pages:
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349