Coyoltepec (CQ)

Coyoltepec (CQ)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Coyoltepec ("On Spiny Palm Hill") features two main elements. One is the coyolli tree, a kind of spiny palm that produces fruit or nuts. The other is a hill or mountain (tepetl). Additional features that do not enter into the place name in a phonetic way, but which might have a semantic contribution, are two small buildings or houses (calli) with banners (panitl) on their roofs. The buildings are shown in profile, facing to the viewer's right, and their T-shaped wooden beams are visible.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The circle below the tree would seem to be a hill (tepetl), given the place name. It has some resemblance to a body of water, but the color is not right for water. See the atecochtli, for example (below).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

coyoltepec

Gloss Normalization: 

Coyoltepec

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Quetzalecatzin, Codex (CQ)
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
adjective
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Architecture, Construction, Buildings
Flags, banners
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Plants, Flora
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Wood, wooden things
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
gray
green (light)
orange/terracotta
red
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
facing right
frontal view
profile view
rectangular
right angle(s)
spiky
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Number of Parts, Other / Comment: 

Two elements enter into the place name, although the two additional features (the buildings) could be counted as semantic complements. Still, their role has yet to be determined.

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Keywords: 

places, lugares, trees, arboles, buildings, edificios, houses, casas, feathers, plumas

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

coyol(li), a spiny palm that produces fruit or nuts, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coyolli-0
tepe(tl), hill/mountain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepetl
-tepec (locatie suffix, on the hill, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepec

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

P[ueblo] Coztoltepec “On the Hill of Yellow Cattails” [maybe depicts bundle of coztli–yellow feathers for phonetic value]. Matthew T. McDavitt, “Placenames in the Codex Quetzalecatzin,” unpublished essay shared 2-21-2018.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

En el Cerro del Palma

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, aka Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec, Codex Ehecatepec-Huitziltepec, or Charles Ratton Codex. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017590521/

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress, current custodian of this pictorial Mexican manuscript, hosts a digital version online. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

coyolli (CQ)

atecochtli (CQ)