Huitzilatl (MH523r)

Huitzilatl (MH523r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Huitzilatl ("Hummingbird-Water") is attested here as a man's name. The glyph shows a hummingbird (huitzilin) in a semi-frontal view but with its head in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. Its wings are raised. Coming off the bottom of the bird are four streams of water (atl) with internal lines of current and a droplet (or bead) at the end of each of the four short streams.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

One wonders whether the name is not literal but refers to a blue-green shimmer on water. See below for other examples of hummingbirds and water. Water often has turbinate shells alternating with the droplets/beads, but not in the case of this Huitzilatl glyph.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

matheo huitzilatl

Gloss Normalization:

Mateo Huitzilatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Feathers

Gender (male)

Movement

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Daniel Chayet

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiky

pointed (see also spiky)

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

profile view

bird's eye view

facing right

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

birds, pájaros, colibríes, hummingbirds, water, agua, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

huitzil(in), hummingbird, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huitzilin
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Colibrí-Agua

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 523r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=125&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: