Chichillan (RGTyM17)

Chichillan (RGTyM17)
Compound Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a painting of the compound glyph for the place name Chichillan ("The Red Place"). It has two elements. At the bottom is a black-line drawing of a simple hill or mountain (tepetl), which provides a semantic locative (in this case, -tlan). On top of the mountain is a large tree with a brown trunk, a thin blue line down the middle of this trunk, and eleven multi-colored (red, blue, and perhaps yellow) fruits or leaves attached directly to the trunk. These are probably meant to be chilli peppers.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Barbara E. Mundy (The Mapping of New Spain, 1996, 147) also translates this toponym "Red Place."

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

Sata marian
chichilan

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Santa María Chichillan

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Tistla y Muchitlan, RG Map of (RGTyM)
Date of Manuscript: 

1582

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tzompanco (contemporary Zumpango del Río, Guerrero), with a connection to the Diocese of Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
locative (visual but silent)
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Food, Eating, Cooking
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Plants, Flora
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
blue (sky blue)
red
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
leaf, marquise, pointed oval
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

trees, árboles, quinine, quinina, pueblos, topónimos, nombres de lugares, place names

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

chichil(li), red, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chichilli
-tlan, place of or near, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan
chichic, something bitter, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chichic
chichiltic, something red, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chichiltic

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Cerca del Árbol 'Chichicuahuitl'

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The source of these hieroglyphs is a manuscript and map known collectively as the “Relación de Tistla y Muchitlan,” also known as the “Descripción de la Alcaldia Mayor de las Minas de Zumpango.” Apparently, these towns (today spelled Tixtla and Mochitlan) are in the modern-day state of Guerrero, but they fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tlaxcala. Thanks go to Octavio Márquez for his contribution of the glyph, gloss, and contextualizing images.

Image Source, Rights: 

The original manuscript is hosted on line as part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utblac:fbc92b3e-bb28-4258-975.... It is open-access.

Orthography: 
"l" for ll
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Tepechichilco (TC RG)