cuetzpalin (TR15r)

cuetzpalin (TR15r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph of a cuetzpalin (lizard or iguana) involves a day sign in the 260-day divinatory calendar. It has been isolated from a date and shown here in a bird's eye view that also has the head somewhat in profile, looking toward the viewer's right. The animal is a light blue, either turquoise or sky blue, the blue that is used in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. The animal has a round belly, articulated legs, long toes, and a long tail. Its white teeth are protruding, as is its long red tongue. Its body is at an angle, leaning toward the viewer's right.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Calendrics figured prominently in Nahuas' religious views of the cosmos. Babies were often named for the date in the tonalpohualli, divinatory calendar, they were born.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Telleriano-Remensis, Codex (TR)
Date of Manuscript: 

ca. 1550–1563

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Religion (Indigenous)
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
blue (sky blue)
blue (turquoise)
red
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
bird's eye view
profile view
Keywords: 

días, days, calendarios, lagartos, iguanas

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

cuetzpal(in), a lizard, an iguana, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuetzpalin

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el lagarto

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Telleriano-Remensis Codex, folio 15 recto, MS Mexicain 385, Gallica digital collection, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8458267s/f55.item.zoom

Image Source, Rights: 

The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.”

See Also: 

Chicome Cuetzpalin (TR15r)