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Scholars have proposed that for decades after the conquest of Yucatan Maya scribes wielded competence in both the old hieroglyphic and the new Latinbased alphabetic scripts. During that time some scribes apparently worked furtively to transfer parts of their pre-conquest traditions, encoded in hieroglyphic codices, into new forms of alphabetic-based writing such as the Books of Chilam Balam and other forbidden works. Various types of evidence --historical and philological-- have been offered to substantiate claims concerning the lingering effects of hieroglyphic writing practices upon Maya use of the alphabetic script in early colonial times. In the light of new evidence from twentieth-century Maya scribal practice, this paper demonstrates that previously published arguments, especially those developed in an influential series of papers by distinguished Mayanist Victoria Bricker, can no longer be considered valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grapheme T648 in the Maya script occurs exclusively in the Postclassic period. Whether it is a CV syllable or a CVC logogram has been in question. In this paper we resolve that issue. Also, we suggest that the Classic version of the sign is T694, which led us to query relevant environments of both versions of the grapheme. We have found a solid substitution in the Postclassic codices with which we can answer several unknown collocations in the Classic Period. We offer CVC and V values for T648/694 and demonstrate their productivity in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]