2. In the idiom of rongorongo writing, we can in tara recognize a compound between mago - lower part - and haga, a bent branch (limb of a tree):
The haga glyph type is charaterized by a sharp point (tara) at right. An indication of the lower part being mago is offered by:
Often glyphs close together are influencing each other. The signs are not fixed at a predetermined location but fluid, sometimes 'infecting' the surrounding glyphs, sometimes being used for 'glyph play' (see example below). The interpretation of the upper part as haga cannot be the whole truth, however. Whereas the standard haga has one place where the bough is maximally bent, the standard tara has two such places; it has a shape more like the form of U than the form of V:
Furthermore, tara is leaning forward. The explanation may be that tara alludes to three other glyph types, not only to haga and mago but also to kai:
This person is leaning forward and his leg corresponds to the tail in tara. We can see this e.g. in Ab8-42:
Although the bent arm in kai corresponds to the right of the two 'arms' in tara (explaining why the form is like U rather than V), the open space between these two 'arms' also seems to allude to the mouth of the shark (mago). An example of this kind of 'glyph play' offers Ab1-46--48:
|
