Huactli (TK208v)

Huactli (TK208v)
Compound Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the personal name Huactli (“Laughing Falcon”). This is a local leader in the larger altepetl of Tepetlaoztoc in the area of Tetzcoco. The compound has at least three parts, and the reading order is multidirectional. In the middle is a bird, presumably the laughing falcon (huactli), which would really supply the full name of this person. But at the top of the compound are two leaves (perhaps izhuatl), which are included for the -hua- phonetic syllable as a clue to the name of the bird. Finally, the lower end of a man’s body, the rear end or buttocks (tzintli), is apparently included with the intention of a reverential suffix in the form of the phonetic syllable -tzin. The gloss was probably meant to have this suffix.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Another huactli found in this collection comes from the Matrícula de Huexotzinco (1560), but that one may be a phonetic indicator of its own.

Side Note: The folio numbers are not always clear in the copy published online by the British Museum. Marc Thouvenot gives this page the number K06_B in his TLACHIA digital collection, https://tlachia.iib.unam.mx/tepetlaoztoc/K06_B.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

.huactli

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Huactli

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Tepetlaoztoc, Codex (aka Kingsborough) (TK)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1556

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tepetlaoztoc, East of Lake Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
syllable: hua (from izhuatl, leaves)
syllable: tzin (from tzintli, buttocks)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Animals: Birds
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
gray
red
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
multidirectional
Keywords: 

halcones, pájaro, pájaros, reir, nombres de hombres, men’s names, fonetismo

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

huac(tli), a bird, the Laughing Falcon, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huactli
izhua(tl), leaves, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/izhuatl
tzin(tli), rear end, buttocks, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzintli
-tzin, reverential or diminutive, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzin

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Halcón Reidor

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The Codex Kingsborough, also known as the Códice de Tepetlaoztoc, and the Memorial de los indios de Tepetlaoztoc, is not on display. It was transferred from the British Library and is now held by the British Museum. It is shared on line at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am2006-Drg-13964

Image Source, Rights: 

©The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. Please also cite the <em>Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphsem>, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities Projects, 2020-present) and this URL.

Orthography: 
intrusive period
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Huacmitl (MH537v)