Achiotlan (Mdz45r)

Achiotlan (Mdz45r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This is a compound glyph for the place name Achiotlan ("By the Achiote"). It has three principal elements. At the bottom we see the red achiotl culinary spice. Above that we have the water (atl) element (with its lines of current and droplets/beads and turbinate shells coming off the flow), which is a clue to the place name starting with "A," and, in the middle, the teeth (tlantli) that provide the phonetic reading for the locative suffix -tlan, which says this is a place where achiote is found. The teeth are not in the classic form of the two front teeth, but consist of four teeth imbedded in a skeletal jaw bone, viewed in profile.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

It is unclear whether the skeletal feature should have an additional reading. Further, Berdan and Anawalt, in The Codex Mendoza, 1992, v. 1, p. 168, suggest that the bowl actually holds achiotetl (the unground achiote seeds), but the extra syllable does not come into play phonetically in the place name. We have another glyph for Achiotlan in our database. It is somewhat less elaborate.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

place name

Syntax:

locative (visual not silent)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Death, decay, decomposition

Food, Eating, Cooking

Names (places)

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

curving, curvy, curved

facing right

profile view

trapezoidal

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

upward

multidirectional

Reading Order, Notes:

The reading order goes from the water [a(tl] at the top, down to the achio(tl), and back up to the teeth [tlan(tli)].

Keywords:

spices, foods, achiote, seasonings, seeds, water, place, locative, teeth

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

achio(tl), a culinary spice, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/content/achiotl
achiote(tl), unground achiotl seeds, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/achiotetl
tlan(tli), tooth/teeth, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli
-tlan (locative suffix), by, near, among, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Karttunen’s Interpretation:

"Achiote Place" (Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission. Since this clearly ends in -tlan and not -tla, or -tlah if we recognize the glottal stop, a reading of abundance is not necessary, according to Karttunen.)

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Where There is Much Achiotl" (Berdan and Anawalt, 1992, vol. 1, p. 168)

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

"El Lugar del Achiote"

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 45 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 100 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).