The Annals of the Cakchiquels | Page 9

this word to the radical syllable of the Nahuatl calp-ulli, may not be accidental. I have elsewhere spoken of the singular frequency with which we hear of seven ancestors, cities, caves, etc., in the most ancient legends of the American race.[34-3]
Terms of Affinity and Salutation.
In the Cakchiquel grammar which I edited, I have given a tolerably full list of the terms of consanguinity and affinity in the tongue (pp. 28, 29). But it is essential to the correct understanding of the text in this volume, to recognize the fact that many such terms in Cakchiquel are, in the majority of cases, terms of salutation only, and do not express actual relationship.
Examples of this are the words tata, father, used by women to all adult males; and tee, mother, employed by both sexes in addressing adult women. In Xahila's writings, we constantly find the words nimal, elder brother, and cha[t], younger brother, inserted merely as friendly epithets. The term mama, grandfather, almost always means simply "ancestor," or, indeed, any member of an anterior generation beyond the first degree. This word must not be confounded with mam (an error occurring repeatedly in Brasseur's writings), as the latter means "grandchild;" and according to Father Coto, it may be applied by a grandparent of either sex to a grandchild of either sex.
Titles and Social Castes.
There are a number of terms of frequent recurrence in Xahila's text, expressing the different offices in the government, rank in social life and castes of the population, which offer peculiar difficulty to the translator, because we have no corresponding expressions in European tongues; while to retain them in the version, renders it less intelligible, and even somewhat repulsive to the reader. I have thought it best, generally, to give these terms an approximate English rendering in my translation, while in the present section I submit them to a critical examination.
The ordinary term for chief or ruler, in both the Cakchiquel and Maya dialects, is ahau. Probably this is a compound of ah, a common prefix in these tongues, originally signifying person, and hence, when attached to a verb, conveying the notion of one accustomed to exercise the action indicated; to a noun of place, a resident there; and to a common noun, a worker in or owner of the article; and u, a collar, especially an ornamental collar, here intended as a badge of authority. Ahau is, therefore, "the wearer of the collar;" and by this distinction equivalent to chief, ruler, captain, lord, king, or emperor, by all which words it is rendered in the lexicons. It is not a special title, but a general term.
Scarcely less frequent is the term ahpop. This is a compound of the same prefix ah, with the word pop, which means a mat. To sit upon such a mat was a privilege of nobility, and of such dignitaries as were entitled to be present at the national council; ahpop, therefore, may be considered as equivalent to the German title Rath, counsellor, and appears to have been used much in the same conventional manner. In the Cakchiquel lexicons, popoh is "to hold a council;" popol, a council; popoltzih, "to speak in council," etc. All these are derived from the word pop, mat; from the mats on which the councillors sat during their deliberations.
Personages of the highest rank, of the "blood royal," combined these titles. They were ahau ahpop, "lords of the council." Uniting the latter title to the family names of the ruling house, the chief ruler was known as Ahpo' Zotzil, and the second in rank and heir-apparent, as Ahpo' Xahil. The oldest son of the former bore the title Ahpop-[c]amahay, which is translated by the best authorities "messenger of the council," and ordinarily was applied to an official who communicated the decisions of the councils of one village to that of another.[37-1] Another title, mentioned by Xahila, is ahpop-achi, the last word means man, vir.
A third article, which distinguished the higher classes, was the seat or stool on which they sat during solemn ceremonies. This was called [t]aalibal, an instrumental noun from the verb [t]al, to be visible or prominent, persons so seated being elevated above, and thus distinguished from others, from this the verbal form, [t]alel, was derived, meaning "he who is prominent," etc., or, more freely, "illustrious," "distinguished."[37-2] The title ahpop [t]alel meant, therefore, originally "he who is entitled to a mat and a stool," that is, in the council chamber of his town.
Another official connected with the council was the orator appointed to bring before it the business of the day. His title was ah uchan, from ucheex, to speak, and it is translated by Spanish writers, the "rhetorician, orator."[37-3] A similar personage, the ah tzih vinak, "the man of words,"[37-4] was in attendance on the king, and, apparently,