Coatl (Verg23r)

Coatl (Verg23r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Coatl (“Serpent”) spelled out entirely phonetically and attested here as a man’s name. The elements are a pottery jug (comitl) and water (atl) coming out of the top. Is the tlacuilo intentionally disguising that the name refers to a serpent and is part of the tonalpohualli, pre-contact calendar?

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This rendition of coatl also appears on other folios of this manuscript, such as on folio 8 verso.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

marcos coatl

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Marcos Coatl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Vergara, Codex (Verg)
Date of Manuscript: 

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully phonographic
fading tradition, or an effort to disguise?
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals: Snakes
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Pottery, Earthenware
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

serpientes, culebra, culebras, cerámica, agua, fonetismo, nombres de hombres, men’s names

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

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

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 23r, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f53.item.zoom, accessed 22 February 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543.

Image Source, Rights: 

The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Coatl (Verg8v)

Coatl (Verg25r)