Cuauhtapalca (MH500v)

Cuauhtapalca (MH500v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cuauhtapalca (here, attested as a man’s name) shows a compact number of small eagle (cuauhtli) feathers sitting on a horizontal black base line and with a spiny stem below that. The -tapalca part of the name is somewhat visually obscure. Supposedly it has something to do with pottery sherds or roof tiles, but here it seems to have a different meaning.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

As the contextualizing image shows, this Nahua man had some stature in the community. He may have been a centecpanpixqui, the person who kept track of 100 tribute payers.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juan guauhtapalca

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Cuauhtapalca

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Ceramics, Pottery
Feathers
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

feathers, plumas, nombres de hombres

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

cuauh(tli), eagle, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuauhtli
tapalca(tl), potsherds, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tapalcatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Águila-Tiestas o Trozos de Cerámicas (?)

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 500v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=80&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: