A Comparative Analysis of Ch’orti’ Verbal Art and the Poetic Discourse Structures of Maya Hieroglyphic Writing

Triplets, Quatrains, and Polystylistic Phrases

Triplets are a powerful poetic device that allow for a higher level of description and emphasis. The inscriptions record a number of examples of triplets constructions. Stela B from Copán speaks of events at a period ending rite on 9.15.0.0.0 (Figure 12). Before describing the actions that took place on that day, the text first mentions three gods within a triplet construction who were overseeing the ceremony:

mi-OL-la    Sky God
mi-OL-la    Earth God
mi-OL-la    Venus God

The expression mi ol has been somewhat problematic to translate. It refers to some action or state of being relating to the hearts of these three gods. I suggest that the meaning of mi (or perhaps mih) can be found in a term mijmij in Ch’orti’. The bound root *mij- is reduplicated in the verb mijmijres, meaning "avivarlo, ponerlo más activo, contemplar (to enliven, to make more active, to make content)." An adjective form inmijmij means "está vivito (he is full of life)." For example, when a child is sitting quietly on the ground and an adult picks her up and starts swinging or bouncing her around they say, e winik war umijmijres e mimi’ (the man is livening up the baby)." There is also an older expression the Ch’orti’ use when a child is sitting alone and starts smiling for no apparent reason. They then say, war amijmijresna e chuchu’ umen e katu’, "the child is being cheered up by the Virgen." (The Ch’orti’ believe that for babies "el cielo está abierto," "the sky is open" and they can see right through to heaven). Since mi on Stela B has no overt affixation, it may be best translated simply as "livened up" (though its exact grammatical function remains unclear). This triplet would then perhaps read, "the heart of the Sky God was livened up, the heart of the Earth God was livened up, the heart of the Venus God was livened up." This would thematically parallel an expression found three times on the Western Panel of the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque. Barbara Macleod (personal communication, 2000) has recently suggested that the phrase at A7-A8 reads, utimiw yol uk’uhul, "he appeased the heart of his gods." I propose that the triplet construction on Stela B at Copán likewise refers to the ’livening up’ or the ’making content’ of the hearts of these gods during this k’atun ending ceremony. In terms of structure, the fact that this triplet precedes the description of events suggests a conscious highlighting of the names of these gods (a poetic device known as fronting or topicalization). There are an ample number of instances of this kind of poetic fronting in the hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The Palace Tablet at Palenque contains a structural triplet that records the death of K’inich Kan B’alam II on 9.13.10.1.5, Feb. 16, 702 (Figure 13). The text makes use of three separate expressions, two of which are metaphoric, to describe his death. The first is och-b’i, "he road-entered," the second is ub’ut’uw, "they filled it up (i.e. they buried him)," and the third is hamali[ji](y) "the untying (of the headband) back then." The use of this triplet was a clear effort on the part of the scribes to emphasize the death of K’inich Kan B’alam II as the foremost event of the monument.

One final example of poetic structuring from hieroglyphics is especially instructive in that it employs several poetic devices simultaneously. The text comes from the well-known Stela C at Quiriguá that contains one of the most important inscriptions relating to the events of Creation (Figure 14). The text reads:

The scribes who created this inscription framed this discussion of the Creation in a couplet that makes use of breaking, i.e. the intervening of text between two lines in a couplet. In this case lines 1 and 6 form a couplet yet they are separated by four lines of text (two additional couplets). At the same time, however, line 6 is also part of a triplet expressed in lines 3, 5, and 6 ("Jaguar Throne Stone, Snake Throne Stone, Water Throne Stone"). Lines 2-3 and lines 4-5 form synonymous couplets in which both lines refer to the action of ’planting’ the stone, the first directly ("he planted it") and the second indirectly ("it happened…"). In addition, lines 3, 5, and 7 make up an internal triplet in that they repeat the same phrase ("it happened at") at identical points in the strophes. It is also possible that parallelism the first phrase in line 1 ("were tied three stones") and the final glyphic collocation of this portion of text in line 7 ("[at the] First Hearth Place") is an additional enveloping device to delineate the beginning and the end of this section of inscription. The use of multiple, interwoven poetic structures in one text allow us to appreciate the verbal artistry of the scribes who produced this monument.

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