Colotl (MH527r)

Colotl (MH527r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Colotl (here, attested as a man’s name) shows a bird's eye view of a scorpion (colotl) without a head. It does have six legs with claws, horizontal stripes across its body, and a notably curling tail (see the noun colli). The stinger at the end of the tail is not visible.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The curling tail may be a phonetic complement to the name of the bug, given that the verb coloa means "to curl," and if the verb is apocopated, it results in the root for colotl. This suggests that the curling tail was the diagnostic for the name of the creature.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

augustin conlotl

Gloss Normalization: 

Agustín Colotl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals: Insects & Bugs
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bird's eye view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
striped
Keywords: 

scorpion, escorpión, cola enrollada, curled tail

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

colo(tl), scorpion, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/colotl
coltic, curved, bent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coltic
coloa, to curl, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coloa
col(li), something bent, twisted, or curling, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/colli-1

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el escorpión, el alacrán

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 527r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=133&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: 
See Also: 

Cocol (MH515v)

Cocol (MH520v)

Cocol (MH501r)

colotl (FCbk6f21v)

amalacatl (FCbk6f23v)