cuappantli (Mdz64r)

cuappantli (Mdz64r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

Given that we did not have a gloss in Nahuatl for what may be a glyph, we are calling this an iconographic example of a cuappantli (wooden bridge). It is included here as a comparison for glyphic elements that feature bridges or wood. This wooden bridge crosses a river. The river is painted turquoise with the usual black lines of current (including a couple of thick black lines), and white turbinate shells and white droplets/beads splashing off the flow. Leading up to the bridge, which consists of four horizontal planks, and away from it are black footprints, which indicate a path or road. Footprints are also recurring elements in glyphs.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

See below for place name glyphs that include bridges. It becomes apparent that either planks or logs could be used for making bridges--unless trees are used in the imagery in order to bring forth the cua- or cuauh- part of the word, given that it can come from cuahuitl, tree. Also see, below, some other wooden constructions.

Footprint glyphs have a wide range of translations. In this collection, so far, we can attest to yauh, xo, pano, -pan, paina, temo, nemi, quetza, otli, iyaquic hualiloti, huallauh, tepal, tetepotztoca, totoco, otlatoca, -tihui, and the vowel "o." Other research (Herrera et al, 2005, 64) points to additional terms, including: choloa, tlaloa, totoyoa, eco, aci, quiza, maxalihui, centlacxitl, and xocpalli.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

puen te

Gloss Normalization:

puente

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Architecture, Construction, Buildings

Footprint(s), human

Transportation, Travel, Roads

Water

Wood, wooden things

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

Keywords:

bridges, wooden structures, pathways, roads, puentes, caminos, senderos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cuappan(tli), wooden bridge, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuappantli
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 64 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 138 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Historical Contextualizing Image: