Note 882 — Chapter XI

Sylvanus Griswold Morley ("An Introduction to the Study of the Maya hieroglyphs," Bur. Am. Eth. Bull. 57, 1915), briefly summarises the theories advanced for the interpretation of Maya writing (pp. 26-30). "The theory now most generally accepted is, that while chiefly ideographic, the glyphs are sometimes phonetic." This author is of opinion "that as the decipherment of Maya writing progresses, more and more phonetic elements will be identified, though the idea conveyed by a glyph will always be found to overshadow its phonetic value" (p. 30).