Acolhuacan (MH501v)

Acolhuacan (MH501v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound Nahuatl hieroglyph for the place name Acolhuacan (“Place of the Acolhua") shows an arm that is meant to suggest a human "shoulder" (acolli), which provides the phonetic start to the name, Acol-. Above that is a swirling representation of water (atl) with lines of current and droplets on the little splashes coming off the swirl. The water complements the a- in acolli with the phonetic syllable -a-, and underlines that the name starts with A-. The -hua- just might be covered phonetically by the presence of the hand (implying possession) at the end of the arm. 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 or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

aculhuacan

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Acolhuacan

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

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)

syllable: a/atl (from atl)

syllable: col (from colli or acolli)

syllable: hua or huan (grasping hand possessive)

visual 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:

bent

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

facing right

profile view

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

shoulders, hombros, bent, torcido, nombres de lugares

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
-can (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/can-2

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).