Editing Maya script (section)

== Structure ==
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| footer = Two different ways of writing the word ''bʼalam'' '[[jaguar]]' in the Maya script – first, as a [[logogram]] representing the entire word with the single glyph {{smallcaps|bʼalam}}, and then, phonetically using the three syllable signs ''bʼa'', ''la'', and ''ma''
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| footer = Three ways to write ''bʼalam'' using combinations of the logogram with the syllabic signs as phonetic complements. From left to right: ''bʼa''-{{smallcaps|bʼalam}}, {{smallcaps|bʼalam}}-''ma'', and ''bʼa''-{{smallcaps|bʼalam}}-''ma''
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[[File:Maya script reading direction.png|thumb|right|Maya inscriptions were most often written in columns two glyphs wide, with each successive pair of columns read left to right, top to bottom]]

Mayan writing consisted of a relatively elaborate and complex set of glyphs, which were laboriously painted on ceramics, walls and bark-paper [[codex|codices]], carved in wood or stone, and molded in [[stucco]]. Carved and molded glyphs were painted, but the paint has rarely survived. {{As of|2008}}, the sound of about 80% of Maya writing could be read and the meaning of about 60% could be understood with varying degrees of certainty, enough to give a comprehensive idea of its structure.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=22}}

Maya texts were usually written in blocks arranged in columns two blocks wide, with each block corresponding to a noun or verb [[phrase]]. The blocks within the columns were read left to right, top to bottom, and would be repeated until there were no more columns left. Within a block, glyphs were arranged top-to-bottom and left-to-right (similar to Korean [[Hangul]] syllabic blocks). Glyphs were sometimes [[Typographic ligature|conflated into ligatures]], where an element of one glyph would replace part of a second. In place of the standard block configuration, Maya was also sometimes written in a single row or column, or in an 'L' or 'T' shape. These variations most often appeared when they would better fit the surface being inscribed.

The Maya script was a [[logogram|logosyllabic]] system with some [[syllabogram]]matic elements. Individual glyphs or symbols could represent either a [[morpheme]] or a [[syllable]], and the same glyph could often be used for both. Because of these dual readings, it is customary to write logographic readings in [[all caps]] and phonetic readings in italics or bold. For example, a calendaric glyph can be read as the morpheme {{smallcaps|manikʼ}} or as the syllable ''chi''.

Glyphs used as syllabograms were originally logograms for single-syllable words, usually those that ended in a vowel or in a weak consonant such as ''y, w, h,'' or [[glottal stop]]. For example, the logogram for 'fish fin'—found in two forms, as a fish fin and as a fish with prominent fins—was read as [kah] and came to represent the syllable ''ka''. These syllabic glyphs performed two primary functions: as phonetic complements to disambiguate logograms which had more than one reading (similar to ancient Egyptian and modern Japanese ''[[furigana]]''); and to write grammatical elements such as verbal inflections which did not have dedicated logograms (similar to Japanese ''[[okurigana]]''). For example, ''bʼalam'' 'jaguar' could be written as a single logogram, {{smallcaps|bʼalam}}; a logogram with syllable additions, as ''ba-''{{smallcaps|bʼalam}}, or {{smallcaps|bʼalam}}''-ma,'' or ''bʼa-''{{smallcaps|bʼalam}}-''ma''; or written completely phonetically with syllabograms as ''bʼa-la-ma.''

In addition, some syllable glyphs were [[homophones]], such as the six different glyphs used to write the very common [[grammatical person|third person]] pronoun ''u-''.

=== Harmonic and disharmonic echo vowels ===
[[File:Dresden codex, page 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya writing]] in the ''[[Dresden Codex]]'', c. 11–12th century, [[Chichen Itza]]]]
Phonetic glyphs stood for simple consonant-vowel (CV) or vowel-only (V) syllables. However, Mayan [[phonotactics]] is slightly more complicated than this. Most Mayan words end with consonants, and there may be sequences of two consonants within a word as well, as in ''xolteʼ'' ({{IPA|[ʃolteʔ]}} 'scepter') which is CVCCVC. When these final consonants were [[sonorant]]s ''(l, m, n)'' or [[guttural]]s ''(j, h, ʼ)'' they were sometimes ignored ("underspelled"). More often, final consonants were written, which meant that an extra vowel was written as well. This was typically an [[echo vowel|"echo" vowel]] that repeated the vowel of the previous syllable. For example, the word [kah] 'fish fin' would be underspelled ''ka'' or written in full as ''ka-ha''. However, there are many cases where some other vowel was used, and the orthographic rules for this are only partially understood; this is largely due to the difficulty in ascertaining whether this vowel may be due to an underspelled suffix.

{{harvtxt|Lacadena|Wichmann|2004}}  proposed the following conventions:
* A CVC syllable was written ''CV-CV,'' where the two vowels (V) were the same: ''yo-po'' [yop] 'leaf'
* A syllable with a long vowel (CVVC) was written ''CV-Ci,'' unless the long vowel was [i], in which case it was written ''CiCa: ba-ki'' [baak] 'captive', ''yi-tzi-na'' [yihtziin] 'younger brother'
* A syllable with a [[glottalization|glottalized]] vowel (CVʼC or CVʼVC) was written with a final ''a'' if the vowel was [e, o, u], or with a final ''u'' if the vowel was [a] or [i]: ''hu-na'' [huʼn] 'paper', ''ba-tzʼu'' [baʼtsʼ] 'howler monkey'.
* Preconsonantal [h] is not indicated.

In short, if the vowels are the same (harmonic), a simple vowel is intended. If the vowels are not the same (disharmonic), either two syllables are intended (likely underspelled), or else a single syllable with a long vowel (if V<sub>1</sub> = [a e? o u] and V<sub>2</sub> = [i], or else if V<sub>1</sub> = [i] and V<sub>2</sub> = [a]) or with a glottalized vowel (if V<sub>1</sub> = [e? o u] and V<sub>2</sub> = [a], or else if V<sub>1</sub> = [a i] and V<sub>2</sub> = [u]). The long-vowel reading of [Ce-Ci] is still uncertain, and there is a possibility that [Ce-Cu] represents a glottalized vowel (if it is not simply an underspelling for [CeCuC]), so it may be that the disharmonies form natural classes: [i] for long non-front vowels, otherwise [a] to keep it disharmonic; [u] for glottalized non-back vowels, otherwise [a].

A more complex spelling is ''ha-o-bo ko-ko-no-ma'' for [haʼoʼb kohknoʼm] 'they are the guardians'.{{efn|Vowel length and glottalization are not always indicated in common words like 'they are'.}} A minimal set is,

*''ba-ka'' [bak]
*''ba-ki'' [baak]
*''ba-ku'' [baʼk] = [baʼak]
*''ba-ke'' [baakel] (underspelled)
*''ba-ke-le'' [baakel]

=== Verbal inflections ===

Despite depending on consonants which were frequently not written, the Mayan [[grammatical voice|voice]] system was reliably indicated. For instance, the paradigm for a transitive verb with a CVC root is as follows:{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=66}}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Verbal inflections in Mayan writing
!scope="col"| Voice
!scope="col"| Transliteration
!scope="col"| Transcription
!scope="col"| Gloss
|-
!scope="row"| [[Active voice|Active]]
| u-{{sc|tzutz}}-wa
| ''utzutzuw''
| "(s)he finished it"
|-
!scope="row"| [[Passive voice|Passive]]
| {{sc|tzutz}}-tza-ja
| ''tzu[h]tzaj''
| "it was finished"
|-
!scope="row"| [[Mediopassive]]
| {{sc|tzutz}}-yi
| ''tzutzuy''
| "it got finished"
|-
!scope="row"| [[Antipassive]]
| {{sc|tzutz}}-wi
| ''tzutzuw''
| "(s)he finished"
|-
!scope="row"| [[Participial]]
| {{sc|tzutz}}-li
| ''tzutzul''
| "finished"
|}
The active suffix did not participate in the harmonic/disharmonic system seen in roots, but rather was always ''-wa''.

However, the language changed over 1500 years, and there were dialectal differences as well, which are reflected in the script, as seen next for the verb "(s)he sat" ({{angle bracket|h}} is an [[infix]] in the root ''chum'' for the [[passive voice]]):{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=72}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Change in passive voice for ''chum''
!scope="col"| Period
!scope="col"| Transliteration
!scope="col"| Transcription
|-
!scope="row"| Late Preclassic
| {{sc|chum}}?
| ''chu[h]m''?
|-
!scope="row"| Early Classic
| {{sc|chum}}-ja
| ''chu[h]m-aj''
|-
!scope="row"| Classic (Eastern Chʼolan)
| {{sc|chum}}[mu]la-ja
| ''chum-l-aj''
|-
!scope="row"| Late Classic (Western Chʼolan)
| {{sc|chum}}[mu]wa-ni
| ''chum-waan''
|}