Cuahui (Verg33v)

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Cuahui (probably either “Tree” or “Eagle”), attested here as a man’s name. The compound shows the head of an eagle (cuauhtli) and, above that, a horizontal digging stick (huictli). The gloss shows “Cuahui” (seemingly Cuahuitl, but with the absolutive ending dropped, nothing unusual). The gloss suggests that both elements play a phonetic role, with the syllable Cua- coming from cuauhtli and -hui coming from huictli. The huictli might also be semantic, given that it is made from wood. Other Cuahui glyphs–very much like this one–appear in the Vergara on folio 34v and 36v. The latter adds an intrusive “n” at the end of Cuahui.