Aocnel (MH627v)

Aocnel (MH627v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Aocnel (perhaps "Good for Nothing," attested here as a man's name) shows what may be a squash or pumpkin (ayotl) with greenery (not colored here) on the top and perhaps a stem at the bottom. The ayotl serves as a near homophone for Aoc-. A hand to the left of the food item grasps a tool with which, perhaps, to stir and mix (-nenel) providing the phonetic syllable -nel- with which the name concludes.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Aoc (an adverb) means no longer. 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.

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

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juan
aocnel

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Juan Aocnel

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
homophony, rebus
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
adverb
aoc
noun(s)
syllable: nel (from nenel, mixed)
syllables/two: aoc (from ayotl, squash)
Writing Features: 
compound fully phonographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Food, Eating, Cooking
Gender (male)
Health, Medicine
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Personality, Behavior
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
facing right
frontal view
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
right to left
Keywords: 

medicinas, medicines, remedies, plantas, tubérculos, frutas, nombres de hombres

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

aoc, no longer, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/aoc
nel(li), true, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nelli
aocnel, null, good for nothing, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/aocnel
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 627v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=337st=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 (MH489r)

Aocnel (MH623r)

Aocnel (MH506v)

Tlanenel (MH602r)