Epcoatl (MH488v)

Epcoatl (MH488v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Epcoatl (“Shell Serpent,” attested here as a man’s name) shows the head of a serpent (coatl) with a protruding, bifurcated tongue. It is not clear what occupies the place of the serpent's body. It somewhat resembles two locks of hair that curl slightly at the ends. But the start to the name ("Ep-") would possibly need to come from eptli, an oyster shell.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Until the visuals are more fully deciphered, the assessment of the logographic vs. phonographic dimensions of this compound cannot be made.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
bifurcated
facing right
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
upward
Keywords: 

serpientes, fuerzas divinas, lluvia, divinidades

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

Epcoatl, another name for Tlaloc, the divine force of rain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/epcoatl
ep(tli), an oyster or a shell, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/eptli
coa(tl), serpent/snake, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Caracol-Serpiente (?)

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 488v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=56&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Epcoatl (MH483v)