Calli (Verg25r)

Calli (Verg25r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Calli (“House” or “Building”), attested here as a man’s name. It includes the sign for “house” in a profile view facing left. Water spurts out of the entryway and down to the left, with five droplets splashing off the little stream. There is just barely one line of current (movement). The water (atl) has no semantic role, it is just a phonetic complement, making it clear that the word calli includes the sound of the vowel “a.”

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This calli sign is classic, with its T-shaped beams at the entrance. Another Calli name in this manuscript emphasizes adobe bricks, but this one is smooth. The lack of a numerical companion for this calendrical day sign may suggest an intentional disguise. If this manuscript is as early as many believe, it would probably not be likely that this was a case of forgetting the iconography.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

po. calli.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Pedro Calli

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: 
calendrics
day name
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
syllable: a or atl
visual movement
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Architecture, Construction, Buildings
Gender (male)
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
T-shapes
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
multidirectional
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

casas, arquitectura, agua, fonetismo, 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
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

“Casa” o “Edificio”

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 25r, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f57.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 period
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Calhua (Verg24v)

Calli (Verg23r)

Calli (MH896r)

Calli (MH485v)

Calli (MH493r)