Aocnel (MH778v)

Aocnel (MH778v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Aocnel is attested here as a man's name. It shows a bird's eye view of a spiral of what appears to be water (atl, providing the phonetic A- for the start of the name). Six little branches coming off of the water. These little branches also seem to have little buds or flowers. The plant may be medically significant, providing a semantic indication.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Orozco y Berra (see our dictionary entry) suggests "good for nothing" or "null" as a translation. 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. Another personal name glyph for Aocnel in this collection seems to show a mortar and pestle, perhaps suggesting that this plant was a medicinal.

The man who bore this name was a tlacuilo (writer/painter). The glyph for this occupation can be seen in the contextualizing image to the left of the man's head.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juā. aocnel.

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Aocnel

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Flowers
Gender (male)
Health, Medicine
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
upward
Keywords: 

plantas, medicinas, remolino, 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, -qui, one who has this occupation, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nelli
atl, water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Bueno Para Nada

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 778v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=631&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)

Aocnel (MH627v)