cempohualli pesos (Chav1)

cempohualli pesos (Chav1)
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph stands for twenty pesos (cempohualli pesos), as the gloss and the contextualizing image show. The word "pesos" is a loanword taken into Nahuatl from Spanish. The peso is round and dark, and in front of it is what appears to be an ear of corn. Compare this sign with the one for fifteen from the same codex (also in the contextualizing image, below).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The reference is to the number of pesos, and corn is not literally present. The association between corn cobs and the number twenty is a cultural one. Twenty is a "full count" in the vigesimal system, and twenty ears of corn was probably a customary grouping.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

cē poualli

Gloss Normalization:

cenpohualli

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Chavero, Codex (Chav)

Date of Manuscript:

1578

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

numbers

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Corn, Maize

Markets, Commerce, Economy

Money, Coins, Prices

Numbers, Math

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle, circular or rounded

frontal view

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

dinero, monedas, veinte pesos, twenty, money, coins

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons:

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cempohual(li), twenty, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cempohualli
peso, a unit of money, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/peso

Image Source:

The Codex Chavero of Huexotzinco (or Códice Chavero de Huexotzinco), https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_03246_001/?sp=1

Image Source, Rights:

The Codex Chavero of Huexotzinco (or Códice Chavero de Huexotzinco) is held by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México. It is published online by the World Digital Library and the Library of Congress, which is “unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: