Amiztlato (MH733r)

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name, Amiztlato (or Amiztlahto, with the glottal stop, "Leader among Hunters") is attested here as pertaining to a man. The name apparently means “Leader Among Hunters,” which means that at least the water element (atl) and the speech scrolls (tlatoa or tlahtoa) are phonographic. The mountain lion (miztli) could play a semantic role relating to hunting. The wildcat is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. Its mouth appears to be open, almost drinking the water that swirls by. The swirling water has one short stream at the bottom, and a droplet (shaped like a bead) appears at the bottom of this stream. The water (atl) could be providing the phonetic start ("A-") to the name and suggesting the verb to speak, tlatoa, if it is emerging from the animal's mouth like speech. A leader is one who speaks, the tlatoani (or tlahtoani), which can explain the semantic readings (one who speaks about cougars could be a leader of hunters).