Ahuacatlan (Mdz39r)

Ahuacatlan (Mdz39r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph for the place name Ahuacatlan consists of an avocado (ahuacatl) tree with embedded teeth (tlantli), the latter providing the phonetic value for the locative suffix, -tlan (near). The tree has a leader and two additional branches, plus some extra leaves, and red curly roots. The tree appears to provide a frontal view. The teeth are white, and the mouth--which is in profile facing to the viewer's right--is slightly open.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Descripción del glifo o de la imagen iconográfica: 

Este jeroglífico nahua compuesto que representa el topónimo «Ahuacatlan» muestra un árbol de aguacate (ahuacatl) en el que figuran unos dientes (tlantli) que aportan el valor fonético del sufijo locativo -tlan (cerca). El árbol presenta un tronco con dos ramas, algunas hojas y raíces rojas onduladas. El árbol parece estar representado desde un ángulo frontal. Los dientes son blancos y la boca, que se encuentra de perfil mirando hacia la derecha del espectador, se muestra ligeramente abierta.

Traducción de la descripción, crédito: 
Leilany Carreño Fernández
Added Analysis: 

The locative suffix, as given in the gloss for the place name, is -tla (or -tlah, if we show the glottal stop), which suggests a place where avocados are abundant. But, given the teeth, the final (-n) was probably inadvertently omitted, and the locative suffix is -tlan. As Gordon Whittaker has discovered, the full mouth of teeth can often imply the locative suffix -tlan with a ligature -ti-, resulting in the post-position -titlan. But this is an exception and the ligature does not appear in this place name.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Análisis adicional: 

El sufijo locativo, indicado en la glosa del topónimo, es -tla (o -tlah, si se escribe como oclusiva glotal), que significa «lugar donde abundan los aguacates». Sin embargo, la presencia de los dientes sugiere que el sufijo final (-n) probablemente se omitió en la glosa, por lo que el sufijo locativo completo sería -tlan. Como apunta Gordon Whittaker, la boca con dientes suele indicar que el sufijo locativo -tlan está unido a -ti, lo que resulta en la posposición -titlan. No obstante, este caso es una excepción, ya que la unión no se manifiesta en este topónimo.

Traducción del análisis, crédito: 
Leilany Carreño Fernández
Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

ahuacatla. puo

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Ahuacatlan, pueblo

Gloss/Text 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: 
phonetic dimensions
place name
Syntax: 
full set of teeth (but not -ti-)
locative (visual not silent)
noun(s)
syllable: tla/tlan/tlal (from tlantli)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Food, Eating, Cooking
Mouth/Beak Open
Names (places)
Plants, Flora
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
green (dark)
green (light)
red
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
roots are visible
tripartite
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
inherent/internal/merged
Keywords: 

avocados, trees, roots, teeth, dientes, aguacates, árboles, raíces, nombres de lugares

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

ahuaca(tl), avocado, avocado tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ahuacatl
tlan(tli), tooth/teeth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli
-tlan (locative suffix), by, near, among, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/

Karttunen’s Interpretation: 

"Avocado Place" [Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission.]

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

"By the Avocados" (Whittaker, 2021, 101); "Where There are Many Avocados" (Berdan and Anawalt, 1992, vol. 1, p. 169).

Whittaker's Transliteration: 

AHUACA-tlan2

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

"Lugar de Aguacates"

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 39 recto, https://codicemendoza.inah.gob.mx/inicio.php?lang=english

Image Source, Rights: 

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)