ayotochtli (Mdz51r)

ayotochtli (Mdz51r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the armadillo (ayotochtli) has been carved from the even more compound place name, Ayotochco. The animal pictured here has a black and white "armored" back and tail (segmented and textured), suggestive of the armadillo. The front and legs of this visually hybrid animal is a rabbit (tochtli), colored purplish-gray and white. The rabbit's eye, teeth, and chin are white. The animal is in profile, facing to the viewer's right.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The animal's head is rabbit-like, emphasizing the phonetic element (tochtli) that hides within ayotochtli

In reality, armadillos have a pointy snout and an armored tail. The feet are more claw-like than the rabbits. These differences reinforce the presence of rabbit elements as an intentional phonetic indicator for the "toch" part of ayotochtli. For further information on the armadillo, see Mexicolore's study of it.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
purple
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Keywords: 

armadillos, rabbits, conejos

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

ayotoch(tli), armadillo, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ayotochtli
toch(tli), rabbit, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tochtli

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

armadillo.

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 51 recto, https://codicemendoza.inah.gob.mx/inicio.php?lang=english

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).

See Also: 

Ayotochco (Mdz51r)