Calhua (Verg24v)

Calhua (Verg24v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Calhua (“He Who Possesses as House”), attested here as a man’s name. The glyph has three elements. One is the house, in a profile view, facing left. Coming out of the entrance is a black bird’s head. This may stand for -hua in some way that currently escapes us. Finally, the water (atl) underscores that the name ends with the sound of a-.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The gloss includes the overbar that would suggest that this name had a plural possessor (-huan, as in “They Possess a House”), so perhaps it refers to a family–rather than an individual–with a house.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

mth calhuā

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Matheo(?) Calhua

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Vergara, Codex (Verg)
Date of Manuscript: 

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
possessive pronoun (no-, to-, i-, etc.)
syllable: a or atl
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals: Birds
Architecture, Construction, Buildings
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

casas, houses, arquitectura, pájaro, pájaros, agua, nombres de hombres, men’s names

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

cal(li), house or building, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/calli
-hua, one who possesses that thing, singular possessive suffix, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/hua

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, El Poseedor de Casa

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 24v, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f56.item.zoom, accessed 22 February 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543.

Image Source, Rights: 

The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Orthography: 
intrusive "n"
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Calli (Verg23r)

Calli (MH493r)

Calli (MH896r)

Calli (Verg25r)