Ollin
Tonal

The count

How we count

Maya and Mexica both count in twenties — vigesimal. Maya wrote it with bars, dots, and a shell for zero. Mexica wrote it in tribute pictures: flags, feathers, bags. Pronunciation sits under every word.

Maya

Dots, bars, shell

A dot is 1. A bar is 5. A shell (or a stylized flower) is 0. Numbers sit in places of 1, 20, 400, 8,000. The Long Count that names a day on this site is that system. Words below are Yucatec.

shell0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

  • 0

    mih

    MEE

    zero — the shell

  • 1

    jun

    HOON

  • 2

    kaʼa

    KAH-ah

  • 3

    ox

    OHSH

  • 4

    kan

    KAHN

  • 5

    hoʼ

    HOH

  • 6

    wak

    WAHK

  • 7

    uk

    OOK

  • 8

    waxak

    wah-SHAHK

  • 9

    bolon

    boh-LOHN

  • 10

    lahun

    lah-HOON

  • 11

    buluk

    boo-LOOK

  • 12

    lahkaʼa

    lah-KAH-ah

  • 13

    oxlahun

    osh-lah-HOON

  • 14

    kanlahun

    kahn-lah-HOON

  • 15

    hoʼlahun

    hoh-lah-HOON

  • 16

    waklahun

    wahk-lah-HOON

  • 17

    uklahun

    ook-lah-HOON

  • 18

    waxaklahun

    wah-shahk-lah-HOON

  • 19

    bolonlahun

    boh-lohn-lah-HOON

  • 20

    jun kʼal

    HOON KAHL

    one score

Mexica

Flags, feathers, bags

Same base-20. In the Codex Mendoza and the Matrícula de Tributos the count is pictures, not bars. A town’s tax is a pile of glyphs. Read them like this:

  • 1

    ce · finger / dot

    SEH

    1

  • 20

    pantli

    PAHNT-lee

    flag — 20. Also cempohualli: sem-po-WAH-lee

  • 400

    tzontli

    TSONT-lee

    hair / feather-fan — 400 (twenty flags)

  • 8000

    xiquipilli

    shee-kee-PEE-lee

    bag — 8,000 (twenty tzontli). A sack of cacao.

Codex Mendoza tribute page with flags
Codex Mendoza. Tribute page. Each small flag is 20. Rows of flags count the load a town owed.
Mexica number signs: dots, flags, feathers, bags
The four signs together. Dots (1), flags (20), tzontli (400), bags (8,000).
Pantli, the flag for 20
Pantli (PAHNT-lee). The flag. 20. Cempohualli (sem-po-WAH-lee).
Tzontli, the hair-bundle for 400
Tzontli (TSONT-lee). Hair / feather-fan. 400.
Xiquipilli, the bag for 8000
Xiquipilli (shee-kee-PEE-lee). The bag. 8,000.

Example: four flags and three dots is 83. Two tzontli is 800. One bag is 8,000 cacao beans — a full xiquipilli (shee-kee-PEE-lee), the load counted in the tribute books.

Nahuatl

Count to twenty

Word on top. How to say it under. Stress the part in capitals.

  • 1

    ce

    SEH

  • 2

    ome

    OH-meh

  • 3

    yei

    YEH-ee

  • 4

    nahui

    NAH-wee

  • 5

    macuilli

    mah-KWEE-lee

  • 6

    chicuace

    chee-KWAH-seh

  • 7

    chicome

    chee-KOH-meh

  • 8

    chicuei

    chee-KWEH-ee

  • 9

    chiucnahui

    chook-NAH-wee

  • 10

    mahtlactli

    mah-TLAHK-tlee

  • 11

    mahtlactli once

    mah-TLAHK-tlee OHN-seh

  • 12

    mahtlactli omome

    mah-TLAHK-tlee oh-MOH-meh

  • 13

    mahtlactli omei

    mah-TLAHK-tlee oh-MEH-ee

  • 14

    mahtlactli onnahui

    mah-TLAHK-tlee on-NAH-wee

  • 15

    caxtolli

    kash-TOH-lee

  • 16

    caxtolli once

    kash-TOH-lee OHN-seh

  • 17

    caxtolli omome

    kash-TOH-lee oh-MOH-meh

  • 18

    caxtolli omei

    kash-TOH-lee oh-MEH-ee

  • 19

    caxtolli onnahui

    kash-TOH-lee on-NAH-wee

  • 20

    cempohualli

    sem-po-WAH-lee

Eleven through fourteen are “ten and one,” “ten and two.” Sixteen through nineteen are “fifteen and one.” Twenty is a new word: cempohualli — one count. Thirteen is also the sacred number of the tonalpohualli: 13 × 20 = 260.