Acolhuacan (MH501v)

Acolhuacan (MH501v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the place name Acolhuacan (“Place of the Acolhua") shows an arm that is meant to suggest "shoulder" (acolli). Above that is a swirling representation of water (atl) with lines of current and droplets on the little splashes coming off the swirl. Aside from the "a" sound provided by the water, the "hua" syllable is not obviously depicted visually, although sometimes a grasping hand, leaves, or a bowl will provide this. The locative suffix (-can) is definitely not shown visually.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The potential significance of the swirling water is brought home by the name glyph for Tetzauh (omen), which seems to suggest that whirlpools (and perhaps whirlwinds, and the like) create a vortex that connects life on earth with a spiritual realm. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

phonetic dimensions

place name

Syntax:

locative (not visual)

noun(s)

visible movement

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Movement

Names (places)

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

bent

profile view

facing right

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

shoulders, hombros, bent, torcido

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

acol(li), shoulder, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/acolli
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl
coltic, curved, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coltic

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

El Lugar de los Acolhua

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 501v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=82&st=image

Image Source, Rights:

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).