Atlix (MH733r)

Atlix (MH733r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name, Atlix (literally, “Water-Eye,” or perhaps Altix, "Bathe-Eye"). It is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows swirling water with four little splashes angling off. This surrounds a starry eye (ixtli), Two streams of water (atl) also come down from the eye. The water streams get narrower as they descend, and there is a small round circle, probably a droplet but looking like a bead, at the end of each stream. A single line of current or flow runs down the middle of each stream, in the middle of each little splash, and around the eye.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

According to Gordon Whittaker (Library of Congress, 4/18/2023), when the water is on the perimeter, such as it is here, the phonetic value is "al" and not "a." He suggests that the verb at play is altia, to wash or bathe something or someone--in this case, the eye.

Of course, looking into water is also a possibility here, and we learn from Alonso de Molina that one could foretell the future by looking into water (atl nicmana).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bird's eye view
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
circle, circular or rounded
frontal view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

eyes, ojos, water, agua

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

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

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Agua-Ojo o Lava el Ojo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 733r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=544&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: 

Atlix (MH521v)