amaitl (FCbk11f225v)

amaitl (FCbk11f225v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This is a compound glyph for amaitl), the name of a certain kind of body of water. The entry concerned with it appears on folio 225 verso of Book 11, “Earthly Things,” Chapter 12, of the General History of the Things of New Spain, also known as the Florentine Codex. This compound features a swirling body of water (atl) and, above it, a human hand and arm (maitl). Both are outlined in black with a little shading. The hand is represented vertically, while the water is horizontal, with classic rounded and squared off swirls in a series. Other lines in the water suggest its watery, moving nature.

Description, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Added Analysis:

Amaitl seems to refer to a kind of fjord or a fairly narrow inlet or bay. Anderson and Dibble translate the Nahuatl description found in the codex as, “an arm of the sea which is extending among the mountains, which is becoming narrow as it extends” (Book 11, Natural Things, Chapter 12, 250).

Added Analysis, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

Amaitl

Gloss Normalization:

amaitl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Landscape Features

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Colors:

black

gray

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

boxed in

circle, circular or rounded

curving, curvy, curved

horizontal

frontal view

right angle(s)

shading and parallel line hatching

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

vertical, upright

wavy

Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

upward

Keywords:

inlets, fjords, water, agua, fiordos, bahías, ensenadas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

a(tl), water, body of water, etc., https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl
mai(tl), hand or arm, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

la ensenada

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667856/.

Image Source, Rights:

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. If you do publish anything from this database, please cite the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.

Historical Contextualizing Image: