Coyohuacan (Mdz47r)

Coyohuacan (Mdz47r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound glyph for the place name Coyohuacan (Coyoacán, today) has two principal elements, a coyote (coyotl) and a hole (coyoctli) in the body of the animal. The coyote is sitting on its haunches, with its front legs extended. It is in profile, facing to the viewer's right. Its red tongue is protruding. The locative suffix (-can), which says "where," is not shown visually. The second feature is hole, a small circle, white in the middle and located on the animal's side, between the abdomen and the back. The animal has a terracotta color. Black lines show a texturing of the animal's coat, and wispy hairs stick out on the animal's back. A tail extends out a bit from the animal, on the viewer's left.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The "coyoc-" of hole provides a phonetic reinforcement for the "coyo" of coyote. This helps clarify that this is not a dog. Erik Velásquez García (2019, 77) discusses this KOYO-KOYO combination of logogram (coyote) and rebus (hole). The -hua- is a possessor suffix that attaches to nouns. This is to say that this is a place that has coyotes.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

coyoacan. pu^o

Gloss Normalization:

Coyoacan, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

phonetic dimensions

place name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Mouth/Beak Open

Names (places)

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Teeth Protruding/Noticeable

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

orange/terracotta

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

dotted, granular, textured

facing right

profile view

spiky

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

inherent/internal/merged

Keywords:

coyotes, holes

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

coyo(tl), coyote, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coyotl
coyoc(tli), hole, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coyoctli
Coyoacan, an important altepetl south of Mexico City, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coyoacan

Karttunen’s Interpretation:

"Place Where People Have Coyotes" [Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission.]

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Place of the Lean Coyotes" (Berdan and Anawalt, 1992, vol. 1, p. )

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 47 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 104 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).