Cachua (MH497r)

Cachua (MH497r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cachua (pronounced Cac-hua, meaning "Possessor of Shoes" and here attested as a man's name) shows a profile view of an Indigenous sandal/shoe (cactli). It is facing toward the viewer's right. It has a foundation, a woven heel covering, and an ankle strap (which was sometimes long enough to wrap part of the calf). It was usually made of leather, although sometimes the base could be fiber. The -hua suffix, for possession, is not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The possession of shoes would carry some status, as it was largely the elite that wore cactli. Sometimes shoes were decorated with metal, gems, or jaguar skins. [See: Barbara A. Somervill, Empire of the Aztecs (2009, 100).] As shown in the examples below, sometimes the back of the sandal was a solid piece of leather, whereas this one is woven. Also, the examples from the Codex Mendoza suggest that the ankle tie was a leather strap dyed red.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juan
cachua

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Cachua

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
possessive pronoun
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Leather, hides
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
woven
Keywords: 

sandals, shoes, sandalias, cactles, huaraches, nombres de hombres

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

cac(tli), shoes, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cactli
hua, possession, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/hua

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Poseedor de Zapatos

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 497r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=73&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: 

cactli (Mdz13r)

Caczoc (MH493r)

xo (Mdz41r)