If reading "Place of Mirrors" is your first experience with the study of the Maya, you are going to come across a lot of new words. I've been asked by readers to provide a glossary for the book, with a guide to pronunciation and meanings. Here is a listing of all of the words in "Place of Mirrors" which may be unfamilar to you. If you come across any others that are not listed here, or if you feel my pronuncuations or meanings are incorrect, please send me an e-mail at jeeni@criscenzo.com.

A few notes about spelling and pronunciation:
Recently, epigraphers have revised the "spelling" of Maya words to more closely reflect English phonetics. For a while this is going to be confusing because so many place names and names of historical persons have always been written using the attempts of the Spanish clergy to orignially converted the unfamiliar Maya sounds into their own phonetics with some improvisions for consonants not used in Spanish. Since "Place of Mirrors" was written prior to the spelling revisions, I have used the old system here in this glossary.

A few tips:

	a	sounds like the short a, such as in "what"
	e	sounds like a long a, such as in "hey"
	i	sounds like a long e, such as in "we"
	o	sounds like a long o, such as in "only"
	u	at the end of a word, or with another vowel: sounds like the letter w, as in "why"  by itself: sounds like a double o, such as in "soon"
	x	sounds like sh, such as in "ship"
	c	always is a hard c, such as the k in "kitten"
	j	always sounds like h as in "home"
	'	Mayan consonants can be regular or glottalized. The difference is hard for the newcomer to hear, but is somewhat more emphatic and harder sounding on the glottalized. A glottalized consonant is indicated with the accent mark (') after the consonant.
		Accents in Mayan words are usually on the last syllable
		Plurals in Mayan are formed by adding the suffix -ob

Is it "Maya" or "Mayan"?
References to people (noun) or of the people (adjective) is "Maya"
--as in "The Maya had many rituals." or "This map shows the Maya region."
The language spoken by the Maya people is "Mayan"
--as in "The Mayan word for "sun" is "k'in".

WORD	PRONUNCIATION	MEANING
achioté	ah chee Oh tay	a bark ground for red pigment
acoté	ah CO tay	a pine that is used as a torch
Agua Azul	AH gwah ah ZOOL	Waterfalls and pools near Palenque that are a blue/green color
agua mineral	AH gwah MEEN er al	Spanish - purified spring water - safe to drink
Ahow	ah HOW	also Ahau, and Ahaw, Lord, day name, that person responsible for protecting and nurturing a god/s
Ahowob	ah HOW ob	plural of Ahow, the suffix -ob forms the plural
Ahpo Hel	Ah poe HEL	wife of Pacal of Palenque - see Cast of Characters
Bacab	bah KOB	title of the spiritual and political leader
baktun	bock TOON	period of twenty katuns - 400 years of 360 days, used in the Long Count - see Calendar
balché	bol CHAY	alcoholic drink made from the fermented bark of the balché tree
Bol	Bowl	common male name of Lacandon Maya - see Cast of Characters
Bolom Tzacab	BAH lahm zah KOB	Maya diety - see Gods
cacao	Kah COW	these seeds were used as currency and also are crushed to make chocolate, a drink of the Maya royalty
Casa de Cambio	KA sa dae COM bee oh	Spanish - place wher you can exchange foreign currency to Mexican and back
ceiba	SEE bah	giant tropical tree, also known as the silk-cotton tree and the kapok. Revered by the Maya as the "Tree of Life"
cenoté	say NOTE tay	water hole in limestone depression, only source of water in Yucatan
Chac	chahk	Maya rain gods - see Gods
Chac Xib Chac	choc sheeb choc	Maya Diety - see Gods
Chakal	chah KAL	name of a descendant of Pacal recorded at Palenque - see Lineage Chart
Chan Bahlum	CHON bah LOOM	first son of Pacal - see Cast of Characters
Chiapas	chee ah PAS	region of Mexico on Western border of Guatemala, where San Cristobal Las Casas is located - see San Cristobal/Chipas
Chichen Itza	chee CHEN eet ZAH	ancient Maya site in Yucatan
Cholula	choe LU lah	5 miles west of Puebla, site of ancient pyramids & colonial churches
ciudades perdidas	SEE oo dahz per DEE dahz	slums on the outskirts of Mexico City, translates as "Lost City"
curasow	cure ah SOW	turkey native to Mexico
Danzantes	dah ZON tayes	the "dancers" - carvings on stone slabs in Monte Albán of grotesque humanoid figures who appear to be dancing, swimming or hallucinating, possibly of Olmec origin.
Ek Chuan	Eck choo AH	Maya diety - see Gods
gacaranda tree	gah kah RON da	tree with lavender flowers
hacha	ha CHAH	or palma - stones inserted in the yokes worn by ball players, presumed to act a deflector
hetzmek	hetz MEK	Maya ceremony where a child is given a name
holcan	hole CON	warrior
huipil	wee PEEL	a Maya woman's blouse, usually hand woven and/or embroidered
Hun Batz	hon BATZ	also Hun Chuen, the two first twin bothers - Father and Uncle of the Hero Twins in the Popol Vuh - see Popol Vuh
Hunab Ku	hoo NAHB koo	Maya diety - see Gods
Ik	eek	Maya diety - see Gods
Its'at	EETZ ot	learned one, the wise man
Itzamná	eet zahm Nah	Maya diety - see Gods
Ix Chel	eesh CHEL	Maya goddess - see Gods
Ixtab	EESH tob	Maya moon goddess - see Gods
Ixtaccihuatl	eesh tash chi WHAT tl	one of two snowcapped volcanoes southeast of Mexico City - looks like a reclining woman, called "sleeping beauty"
k'in	k' EEN	the sun, one day
Kahwil	kah WHEEL	Maya diety - see Gods
Kan	CON	several meanings - a day sign, maize, yellow and precious
Kan Xul	con SHOOL	second son of Pacal - see Cast of Characters
katun	kah TOON	period of twenty years of 360 days used in the Long Count - see Calendar
kaxtlan chem	kosh TLON chem	a great canoe
Kayam	kah YOM	common name of Lacandon males, means monkey
Koh	KOE	common name of Lacandon Maya women - see Characters
Kukulkan	koo kool Kahn	Maya diety - Feathered Serpent - see Gods
Lacandon	lah con DOEN	believed to be descendants of ancient Maya of Palenque or Yaxchilan, these people live in the Lacandon forest of Chiapas - - see San Cristobal/Chipas
madronios tree	mah droe NEE oes	red barked tree that appears to be dead, then bursts into bloom in the rainy season
Mah K'ina	mah K-EE nah	Divine Sun, title used by Pacal of Palenque to afirm his divinity
Merida	mer EE dah	colonial city in Mexico
milpa	mill PAH	Maya family farm, consists mostly of maize, beans and squash
Mitla	MEET lah	ancient site just outside Oaxaca, of Mixtec origin. Buildings are covered with friezes of geometric patterns.
Monte Albán	MON tae AL bon	Ancient site on a mountaintop above Oaxaca dates from 400 B.C.
nah	NAH	thatched Maya house
Nuk	nook	common name of Lacandon women - see Cast of Characters
Oaxaca	wah HAH kah	Colonial city in Mexico
Olmecs	OL mekz	mesoamerican civilization that predated the Maya. The Maya calendar is based on their calendar.
onen	oh NEN	the companion animal spirit the Maya believe each person has
Pacal	pah KAL	also Pakal, great ruler of Palenque who was buried beneath Temple of the Inscriptions - see Cast of Characters
Palenque	pah len KAY	ancient Maya site where tomb of Pacal was discovered in 1952. - see Palenque and Jaguar Sun
pati	pah TEE	cloak
pih	peeh	uncertain of it's meaning, used in "Place of Mirrors" as the word for idols or representations of the gods
Popacatepetl	poh poh kah TEH petl	one of two snowcapped volcanoes southeast of Mexico City
Popol Vun	poh POL vooh	Maya creation myth - see Popol Vuh
posol	poe SOUL	drink made with corn paste mixed with water
Puebla	pu WAY blah	colonial city 1 1/2 hours southeast of Mexico City
recordar	ray CORE dar	Spanish, to remember
sahal	sah HOL	Maya dignitary, not the ruler, but possibly a dipolmat or clan leader
San Cristobal Las Casas	san crees toe BAL	city in state of Chiapas - see San Cristobal/Chipas
San Juan Chamula	SAN WHAN chah MOO lah	A Maya village near San Cristobal- see San Cristobal/Chipas
sopa	SO pah	Spanish - soup
t'o'ohil	t 'oh oh HEEL	spiritual leader of Lacandon Maya - see San Cristobal/Chipas
Te' nab	tay NOB	a place mentioned in ancient Maya writing at Palenque, at or near the site. means "tree place"- see Jaguar Sun
Tehuacan	tae whah KON	colonial city southeast of Mexico City
Teotihuacán	tay oh TEE wah kon	ancient site near Mexico City that was abandoned before the time of the Aztec, who called it the City of the Gods.
Tikal	TEE kal	ancient Maya site in Guatemala - see Tikal
Toctan	tok TAN	a place near Palenque mentioned in inscriptions - see Jaguar Sun
Tonina	toe nee NAH	ancient Maya site near Palenque where Kan Xul, Pacal's second son was taken captive and eventually sacrificed.
tumpline	TUMP line	a method of carrying items on the back in a sling that is supported by a cloth band across the forehead
tun	TOON	period of one year of 360 days or 18 uinals, used in the Long Count - see Calendar
tzolkin	zol KEEN	sacred Maya calendar of 260 days - see Calendar
U Kix Chan	woo KEESH chon	Palenque ancestor - see Lineage Chart
uinal	wee NAL	period of 20 days used in the Long Count - see Calendar
Uxmal	oosh MAHL	ancient Maya site in Yucatan
Xibalba	shee BAL bah	the underworld, a terrible place where one goes at death and only those of great wit can ever escape.
Xoc	SHOCK	means "shark", name of a descendant of Pacal recorded at Palenque - see Lineage Chart
Xocal Ha	shah COL hah	Maya name for Usumacinta River
yerbero	year BER ro	herbalist, vendor of herbs
Yum Kaax	yum KOSH	Maya god - see Gods
Zapotec	ZAH po tek	indigenous people of the Oaxaca/Monte Albán region
zocalo	ZO cah low	town square, usually surrounded with public buildings, church and market and often has a bandstand