cuahuitl (Mdz41r)

cuahuitl (Mdz41r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for the place name, Cuauhxomolco, is duplicated here as a sign for tree(s) (cuahuitl). The corner (xomolli) is a separate element that has been neatly woven into the sign for tree. The tree has typical two-tone green foliage, the terracotta-color trunk, and the black stripes (one thin, one thick) across the trunk are all classic elements of the iconography meant to elicit the reading "cuauh."

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The black stripes (tlilcuahuitl) are phonetic indicators that this sign is a tree (cuahuitl), something I discovered independently, but which has also been pointed out by Brígida von Mentz ("De árboles, raíces, y locativos en la iconografía del México antiguo," Tlalocan 15, 2008, 216–219).

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

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Wood, wooden things
Colors: 
black
green (dark)
green (light)
orange/terracotta
Shapes and Perspectives: 
striped
Keywords: 

trees, árboles

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

cuahui(tl), tree(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuahuitl-1
tlilcuahui(tl), black stripe(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlilcuahuitl

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 41 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 92 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).

See Also: 

Cuauhxomolco (Mdz41r)