Achiconitica (Verg24v)

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Achiconitica (perhaps “Drinking a Little”), attested here as a man’s name. It has three elements. The water (atl) that drips down from the left side of the bowl seems to provide the phonetic indication that the name starts with A-. Then, there is a man in profile, facing left, and drinking (-conitica) from a gourd (perhaps a xicalli). Above this scene is a corn cob, which may make a semantic suggestion that the beverage is atolli (atole in modern Spanish). The beverage does appear to have some bubbles or foam at the top, suggesting it is frothy. The man’s sleeve has some folds of fabric, a three-dimensionality that seems rare for the date of this manuscript, although European artistic styles may have been taught from early on in the Tetzcoco area.