Chipiltepec (TK207r)

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the place name Chipiltepec (“Chipilin Hill” or “Chipilin Mountain”). Chipilín (accented in Spanish) is a green herb that is important in Mexican cuisine, often used for flavoring tamales. The compound glyph has four elements, and the reading order is from left to right. The first element is a sign for chiyantli, called chia in Spanish and English, which provides the phonetic syllable -chi-, the start to the place name. Next is a red and white handwoven blouse (huipilli), which supplies the phonetic syllable -pil-, the second syllable of the place name. Next is the set of terracotta-colored human lips (tentli), which sit atop the mountain or hill. Here, the lips contribute the phonetic syllable -te- for the start of the word tepetl (hill or mountain). And, finally, the fourth sign is the bell-shaped hill or mountain (tepetl) itself. It is painted brown but the horizontal bar near the bottom is left natural. The locative suffix (-c-) is not shown visually, although it is implied in the hill or mountain, given that it contributes to the sense of “place.”