Aocnel (MH489r)

Aocnel (MH489r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Aocnel (perhaps "Good for Nothing," here attested as a man's name) appears to feature a cup with a straw, a stirrer, or a mortar for pulverizing or mixing (providing the phonetic indication for the -nel part of the name). The visual leans toward Tlanenel (a personal name having to do with mixing), making this a simplex phonogram.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Aoc (an adverb) means no longer. It is not shown visually. Nel was originally short for nelli (an adjective), true, but James Lockhart explains that it became ubiquitous in particle combinations, losing the meaning of "true." See Lockhart's explanation in our Online Nahuatl Dictionary entry for canel.

Another Aocnel personal name glyph in this collection (see below) has a completely different motif (a plant). Perhaps it is a medicinal plant.

Orozco y Berra suggests a translation of "bueno para nada," good for nothing. See our Online Nahuatl Dictionary entry.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

martin aocnel

Gloss Normalization: 

Martín Aocnel

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzinco, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
adverb
aoc
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as phonogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Containers, Dishes, Eating Utensils
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Personality, Behavior
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Keywords: 

nombres de hombres

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

aocnel, good for nothing, null, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/aocnel
aoc, no longer, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/aoc
nel(li), true, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nelli
nenel-, mixed, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nenel

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Bueno Para Nada

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 489r, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=57&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Aocnel (MH506v)

Payac (MH602v)

Aocnel (MH627v)

Tlanenel (MH602r)

Aocnel (MH817v)