coatl (MH484v)

coatl (MH484v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for serpent or snake (coatl) has been carved from the compound sign for the personal name, Mixcoatl. In this black line drawing, the snake is shown in profile, looking to the viewer's right. Its forked tongue protrudes. One eye is visible. It also has spots. Its body has a loop in it, with the head going to the right and the tail to the left. No rattles are visible.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The shape of the serpent here could be affected by the desire of the artist to make it fit better with the cluster of clouds (in the compound glyph for the full name, Mixcoatl).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

antonio couatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Antonio Coatl

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: 
calendrics
day name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
twisted or entwined
Keywords: 

snakes, serpents, serpientes, víboras, cohuatl

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

coa(tl), snake, serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el serpiente

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 483v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=48&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: