Cuauhxomolco (Mdz43r)

Given the proximity to other pueblos in the Valley of Oaxaca, this pueblo is probably in the state of Oaxaca. There is a certain tree called the coatli, which could provide the stem (Coah-) for this place, in lieu of the stem I have given it (Cuauh-). I am taking the cuauh- from the wood that makes the corner in the graphic elements of this compound glyph. Some see a likely stem of Coa- from snake (coatl), which is plausible, but the artist could have easily provided a visual of a snake and yet chose not to.

The bowl of molli (sauce) is a phonetic reinforcer that underlines the "mol" sound in the corner (xomolli) and, therefore, also in the place name. The corner, incidentally is a beautiful right angle (geometry). The water that flows along with the bent wood could offer a reinforcement of the "a" sound, or it may be that in the local landscape there is a river that makes a sharp turn or bend, giving the atl a semantic role.

One historical study of the place called "Cuauhxomulco" in the state of Morelos mentions a location at the corner of a forest, where the "big trees cease and the stunted vegetation" begins. [See, for example, William T. Prichard, Mexico to Cuernavaca (1898), 34.] There is also a pueblo in the state of Tlaxcala that is much like this one, San Antonio Cuaxomulco.