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 hmmingbird (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

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Daniel Chayet

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Keywords: 

birds, pájaros, colibríes, hummingbirds, water, agua

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