Cihuamahuitl (MH685v)

Cihuamahuitl (MH685v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cihuamahuitl (perhaps “Woman-Honor”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows simply the head of a woman in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. She wears her hair in the style of the adult Nahua woman, with the hair swept up into a point on either side of the forehead.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The mahuitl part of the name is not well attested in early Nahuatl. Ideally, it does mean "honor." What is clear is that this is a name that includes the female gender, and it is a name that was held by a man, which is a phenomenon that does occur in Nahua naming practices. It might not have any implications about the masculinity of the man who holds the name, because the name was probably given to him at birth.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

antonio ciuamauhitl

Gloss Normalization: 

Antonio Cihuamahuitl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood & Jeff Haskett-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)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Emotions
Gender (female)
Gender (male)
Names (men's, but w/ female dimension)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Keywords: 

honrar, respetar, mujer honrada, nombres de hombres

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

cihua(tl), woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuatl
mahui, to fear, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mahui
mahui(tl), honor, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mahuitl
mahuiz(tli), fear, respect, or someone worthy of respect, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mahuiztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Mujer-Honra

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 685v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=451&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
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Cihuamahuitl (MH490r)