| Here is a key to the reading of K'an Joy Chitam's name: K'AN-na JOY[CHITAM}-ma. The k'an-cross sign is a logogram conveying an entire word rather than just a syllable, so it is transcribed in capital letters: K'AN. We can be confident of this reading because the final n is indicated by the phonetic complement na. The bundle-knot on top of and encircling the peccary's head is the logogram JOY, while the rodent itself is the logogram CHITAM. This is transcribed in brackets - [CHITAM] - to indicate that it is infixed within the sign for JOY. Finally, the phonetic complement ma clues the final consonant m of CHITAM. The name can be translated as "Yellow (or Precious) Tied Peccary" (Martin and Grube 2000), or "Yellow (or Precious) Young Peccary" (Marc Zender, personal communication, 2000). |
| Note: Recently, Erik Boot (personal communications, May/June 2001) has proposed two emendations to our understanding of this ruler's name: Firstly, he has pointed out that in the western Maya region kitam was likely to have been the variant for chitam (note spellings ka-b'a > kab' "earth", k'a-ma > k'am- "to receive"). Secondly, whereas the general rule is that color terms come before other adjectives modifying a noun, in this case k'an is modifying only the kitam part of the name rather than the entire name; thus: Joy K'an Kitam. |