sionaries, and therefore, in this work, as in all the MSS, the
following letters are used with their Spanish values,--a, b, c, ch, c,
e, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, t, y.

The following are not employed:--

d, f, g, j, s, n, z.

The following are introduced, but with sounds differing from the
Spanish:--

_h._ This is always a decided rough breathing or forcible expiration,
like the Spanish j, or the strong English h; except when it follows c or
[c], when it is pronounced as in the Spanish, _cha_, _che_, etc.

_k._ This has never the sound of c, but is a rough palatal, the mouth
being opened, and the tongue placed midway, between the upper and lower
walls of the oral cavity, while the sound is forcibly expelled.

_v._ This letter, whether as a consonant (_v_) or a vowel (_u_), is
pronounced separately, except when it is doubled, as in _vuh_ (_uuh_),
book or paper, when the double vowel is very closely akin to the English
_w_.

_x._ In Cakchiquel and its associated dialects, this letter represents
the sound of _sh_ in the English words _she_, _shove_, etc.

Besides the above, there are five sounds occurring in the Cakchiquel,
Quiche and Tzutuhil, for which five special characters were invented, or
rather adopted, by the early missionary Francisco de la Parra, who died
in Guatemala, in 1560. They are the following:--

[c,] [c,]h [c] [t] [tz]

The origin and phonetic value of these, as given by the grammarian
Torresano, are as follows:[49-1]--

[t] This is called the _tresillo_, from its shape, it being an old form
of the figure three, reversed, thus, [Illustration: Reversed 3]. It is
the only true guttural in the language, being pronounced forcibly from
the throat, with a trilling sound (_castaneteando_).

[c] From its shape this is called the _cuatrillo_, Parra having adopted
for it an old form of the figure 4. It is a trilled palatal, between a
hard _c_ and _k_.

[c,] The name applied to this is, the _cuatrillo con coma_, or the 4
with a comma. It is pronounced somewhat like the _c_ with the cedilla,
c, only more quickly and with greater force--_ds_ or _dz_.

[tz] This resembles the "4 with a comma," but is described as softer,
the tongue being brought into contact with the teeth, exactly as _tz_ in
German.

[c,]h A compound sound produced by combining the cuatrillo with a
forcible aspirate, is represented by this sign.

Naturally, no description in words can convey a correct notion of these
so