Ecatilma (MH860r)

Ecatilma (MH860r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Ecatilma ("Wind Cape" of "Cape of Ehecatl," attested here as a man's name) shows a square cape (tilmatli) with the profile of an anthropomorphic head facing right. The head has short spiky hair and a large beak-like mouth, apparently the device through which Ehecatl, the divine force of wind, blew the wind.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Gabrielle Vail and ‎Christine Hernández (Re-Creating Primordial Time, 2013, ) describe Ehecatl as the wind aspect of Quetzalcoatl, and they note that Ehecatl "wears a buccal (duck) mask through which to blow wind." That the "beak" may have been perceived as a blowing device is supported by the glyph for Pitztli (below).

John Montgomery drew a group of wind glyphs (possibly mainly Mixtec), showing the variety of ways the blowing device might look. It is published in FAMSI, Inc.

Gordon Whittaker has recommended preserving the spelling of Eca-, even when the intention may well be Eheca-. The Eca- spelling is pervasive. The dictionary differentiates between ecatl (air, breath) and ehecatl (wind). The reduplication of the first syllable seems to suggest there is more volume to the air and/or it has greater movement. The "cape" in this glyph is just a white square, but we know from the gloss what is meant.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

encatilmā

Gloss Normalization: 

Ecatilma

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: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
rectangular
Keywords: 

viento, máscara, mascarilla, boca, aire, aliento, ropa, capa, nombres de hombres

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

eca(tl), air/breath, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ecatl
eheca(tl)/Ehecatl, wind, or the spirit of the wind, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ehecatl
tilma(tli), cloak or cape worn by the elite, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tilmatli

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 860r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=792&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: 
intrusive "n"
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Ecatl (MH484r)

Ecatl (MH484v)

Tilma (MH649r)

Pitztli (MH874v)