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Note: In 'a-ku-(la), the syllable ku acts as a phonetic complement to the syllable 'a, contributing the consonant k and signaling by the fact that its vowel u is disharmonic with the vowel a in 'a, that the latter vowel is complex. This yields ahk instead of ak and, with the implied suffix la, Ahkal. (The principle by which the la is "reversed" to make the -al in Ahkal has led David Stuart and his collaborators to posit the existence of "morphosyllables". These are signs that are read both as logographs and as syllables, depending on the context. Thus the implied suffix above is read la when it acts as a syllable and AL when, as in the present case, it functions as a logogram.) The macaw beak is a logogram, conveying the word mo', while the logogram NAHB', "pool" is the full form of a water lily blossom on top of a "spotted winal" sign.
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