Cacahuaxochitl (MH796v)

Cacahuaxochitl (MH796v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cacahuaxochitl (perhaps “‘Cacao’ Flower”) is attested here as a woman’s name. Note that this plant is not botanically related to the cacao tree. The glyph shows a vertical, small-waited, trumpet blossom with four petals at the top and a prominent anther. It also has a three-part base.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This flower is used for flavoring the beverage called tejate in Mexico today. A popular name for this tree in Ecuador is molinillo. Its botanical name is Quararibea funebris, so it is sometimes called the “funeral tree.” Apparently, the people of Villa de Izúcar (now Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla) used to mourn deceased relatives under this tree. [See: Luis Manuel Cervantes Servin, Estudio etnobotanico, historico, de manejo y explotacion de "rosita de cacao" Quararibea funebris (La Llave) Vischer, Bombacaceae en los valles centrales de Oaxaca. Tesis de M.Sc. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1999, p. 12.] Another glyph for this same name

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juonā cacavaxochitl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juana Cacahuaxochitl

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
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Flowers
Gender (female)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
Keywords: 

flowers, árboles, bebidas, nombres de mujeres

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

cacahuaxoch(itl), ‘cacao’ flower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cacahuaxochitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Flor de Tejate, o Rosita de Cacao

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 796v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=667&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).

Orthography: 
"v" for u, uh, or hu
intrusive overbar
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Cacahuaxochitl (MH725v)