Cihuainmecauh (MH660r)

Cihuainmecauh (MH660r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Cihuainmecauh (“Women’s Rope”) is attested here as a man’s name. It shows the head of a woman in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. Coming from her mouth are two pieces of rope or cord (mecatl). Alternatively, it could be one piece and the part in her mouth is the middle, with the two ends hanging down. The rope is twisted. In the construction of the name, the mecatl has a plural possessive marker (making it women's rather than women's), but the plural is not shown visually. The woman has the hairstyle of the mature, sedentary, Nahua woman, the neaxtlahualli.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Compare the presence of rope in the glyphs below. Ropes were used to pull stones and beams. They were also used to strangle people. The meaning of this glyph is open to speculation. Was there a rope or cord especially used by women? Were ropes used to abuse or control women? Or, was this man someone who would be led around by women? There is a range of men’s names that have the “cihua” element. These names would make an interesting study for a deeper exploration of gendered relationships.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

benito. çiuay~mecauh.

Gloss Normalization:

Benito Cihuainmecauh

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

possessive pronoun

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Gender (female)

Gender (male)

Names (men's, but w/ female dimension)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Rope, cord

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

tied, bound, or bundled

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

mujeres, sogas, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cihua(tl), woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuatl
meca(tl), rope or cord, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mecatl
in-, third-person plural possessive, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/node/176143

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Soga de Mujeres

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 660r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=400&st=image

Image Source, Rights:

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).

Orthography:

"çi" for ci

dropped "h"

Historical Contextualizing Image: