Cuitlacoch (MH874v)

Cuitlacoch (MH874v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cuitlacoch (“Huitlacoche”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows what may be four kernels of maize or the fungal growth found on corn cobs that is eaten as a delicacy. Each circle has dark smudges and what appears to be about eleven short hairs are growing straight up from the top of the cluster.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Cuitlacochin became Huitlacoche in contemporary Mexican Spanish. Wikimedia has an image of a corn cob with huitlacoche fungus. This is the first example of this name in this digital collection as of February 2025, with over 6K records. It must not be a common personal name, although it is a popular food item.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

matheo cuitlacoch

Gloss Normalization:

Mateo Cuitlacoch

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Corn, Maize

Food, Eating, Cooking

Gender (male)

Hair (human or animal)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

frontal view

Keywords:

maíz, huitlacoche, hongos, comida, nombres de hombres

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons:

Museum/Rare Book Notes:

This image of cuitlacochin (huitlacoche in Mexican Spanish, today) shows how it grows as a fungus on corn cobs. We include it here for the purpose of comparing it with the glyph above. Museo Nacional de Historia, Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Photo by S. Wood, 29 April 2025.

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cuitlacoch(in), maize fungus, a delicacy, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuitlacochin

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Huitlacoche

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 874v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=821&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).

Orthography:

"th" for t, d, or gd

Historical Contextualizing Image: