Cuauhtlamati (MH554r)

Cuauhtlamati (MH554r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Cuauhtlamati (“The Eagle Knows Things,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a chain of speech scrolls connecting the tribute payer's mouth to the head of an eagle, shown in profile, facing right. Its eye and beak are open. The man's face is wrinkled, suggesting he is an elder, and therefore perhaps knowledgeable (suggestive of the verb mati).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The quantity of speech scrolls may suggest a form of communication with the eagle (cuauhtli), which may suggest that it is knowledgeable, it knows things (tlamati). Knowledge can be special knowledge that comes from experience and/or contemplation, as Marc Thouvenot has discussed. The significance of mati, and the importance of the eagle to Nahua culture, suggest a powerful name here.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

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)

verb

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Aging (People, Animals, Things)

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Education, Knowledge, Wisdom

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Scrolls (Speech, Song, etc.)

Speech, Speaking, Oral Tradition

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

volute(s)

profile view

facing right

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

right to left

Keywords:

águila, eagle, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cuauh(tli), eagle, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuauhtli
tlamati, to know something, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlamati

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

El Águila Sabe Cosas (?)

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 554r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=187&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: