atl (Mdz13v)

atl (Mdz13v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for water (atl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Cahuallan. It consists of two small amounts of water running down a woman's cheek, coming out of her eye. The tears are painted turquoise blue. Only the one on the right has the white droplet or shell at the end.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In our online Nahuatl Dictionary, one will see that many kinds of liquid, including urine, can be referred to as atl). In this case, the tears are depicted with the same iconography as water.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Emotions
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bifurcated
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
Keywords: 

water, shells

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

a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

water, tears

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el agua

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 13 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 37 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

Phonetic Reading (comment): 

ātl (Karttunen 1992, 13)

See Also: 

Cahuallan (Mdz13v)