Acolman (Mdz3v)

The yellow stripe at the site of the shoulder is somewhat reminiscent of the red and yellow stripes on the shoulder in the place name Acolhuacan in the Codex Mendoza on folio 21 verso. In that example, the water protrudes from the yellow and red lines at the shoulder, but here it is draped over the forearm, instead. The hand also provides the phonetic component of the final syllable of the place name, -ma[n] (or -mān). The water (atl or ātl) spilling over the forearm near the hand (maitl) underlines that the place name begins with an "a." Gordon Whittaker calls "acol" a pseudo-logogram, for in place names it is not literally about a shoulder but provides the phonetics for "a" (water) and "col" (bend, or curve), referring to "the curve of the lakeshore." [See Whittaker, Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 180.] Also according to Whittaker, we should pay attention to the upright hand without an arm attached versus the more horizontal or diagonal arm, which can have readings other than maitl, such as the ma of capture, ana of grab, or poloa of destroy. (Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 104) Here, the hand (maitl) provides the phonetic clue for the locative suffix -mān, "where there are" (from the verb mani).

This place, Acolman, was allegedly given to one of three important Chichimec immigrants in the early settlement of the Valley of Mexico. Xolotl apparently treated them well, giving them lands. Tzontecomatl got Acolman. [See her Stories in Red and Black (2000), 185.]