Chicua (MH568v)
This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Chicua (“Barn Owl,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a profile view of the head of an owl looking toward the viewer's right. Its large round eye has many short black lines emanating out from it. Its beak is open.
Stephanie Wood
The unusual number of lines around the owl's eye draws attention to it, perhaps recognizing its ability to see at night, but also giving an allusion of tonalli (day, sun, personal animating spirit) to it. Nahuas perceive owls to have sacred powers.
Stephanie Wood
1560
buhos, owls, birds, pájaros
chicua(tli), barn owl, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chicuatli
chicuatoto(tl), Eastern Meadowlark, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chicuatototl
La Lechuza
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 568v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=216&st=image.
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).
