Cuauhxayacatitlan (Mdz13v)

Cuauhxayacatitlan (Mdz13v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound glyph for the place name Cuauhxayacatitlan includes a tree (cuahuitl) and, superimposed on the tree, a face or mask (xayacatl)]. The face is forward, rather than in profile. Note the mask or face in profile, below, right. A full mouth of teeth (tlantli) is visible, which might point to the locative suffix -tlan, preceded by ligature -ti-. The tree trunk and the face are painted a terracotta color. The tree has a leader and two side branches, each with a two-tone green foliage. The tree also has visible, red, curling roots.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Frances Berdan suggests mask(s) rather than face for the interpretation of this glyph, given that xayacatl can refer to either a face or a mask. The "cuauh" (stem from cuahuitl) can mean wood as well as tree, and the cuauh- modifies the -xayaca-, which explains the reading of wooden masks. Frances Karttunen seems to support this reading, too. Another more distant possible interpretation is that the tree (Cuauh-) is there as a homophone for eagle (Cuauh-), as there is a name in this collection that refers to the personal name Cuauhxayacatzin, or Eagle Face (see MH693v).

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

quauhxayacatitlā. pu^o

Gloss Normalization:

Cuauhxayacatitlan, pueblo

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

Semantic Categories:

phonetic dimensions

place name

Syntax:

ligature -ti- (visual)

locative (visual not silent)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Art, Design, Crafts, etc.

Gender (male)

Names (places)

Plants, Flora

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Wood, wooden things

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

roots are visible

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

tripartite

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

back to front

Keywords:

trees, faces, masks, roots, árboles, caras, máscaras, raíces, Quauhxayacatitlan

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cuahui(tl), tree(s), woods, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuahuitl
xayaca(tl), face or mask, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xayacatl
-ti- (ligature), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ti
-tlan (locative suffix), by, near, among, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan
tlan(tli), tooth/teeth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli

Karttunen’s Interpretation:

"Among the Wooden Masks" (she appears to agree with the Berdan and Anawalt analysis) [Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission.]

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Among the Wooden Masks" (Berdan and Anawalt, 1992, vol. 1, 203)

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

"Entre las Máscaras de Madera"

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood (translating Berdan's interpretation)

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 13 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 37 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).