Cuauhtemal (MH603v)

Cuauhtemal (MH603v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or ethnicity, Cuauhtemal (“Rotten Wood,” "Eagle Pus," or "Person from Guatemala," attested here as a man’s name), shows a profile view of a man who is looking upward and toward the viewer's right. On the top of his head is a feathered headdress with two parts. Each one is pointed at the top, with a round feather or ball below the tip, and then a spray of long feathers.

The Cuauh- in the gloss could refer either to wood (cuahuitl) or eagles (cuauhtli) which makes the decipherment difficult. If wood is meant, the eagle feathers could be playing a phonetic role.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Given the headdress, it would seem that Cuauhtemal might refer to his ethnicity, possibly being from Guatemala, rather than something about rotting wood. But the term for the ethnicity would end in -teca (or -tecatl, with the absolutive). That said, names can be apocopated.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Semantic Categories:

personal name

phonetic possibilities

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Feathers

Gender (male)

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Race, Ethnicity, Identity

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Other Cultural Influences:

Guatemalan

Keywords:

feathers, plumas, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Cuauhtemallan, Guatemala, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuauhtemallan
cuahu(itl), wood or tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuahuitl
temal(li), pus, or something rotten, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/temalli
-lan (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/lan

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Guatemalteco (?)

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 603v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=289st=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).