Huitzilhuacan (TK206v)

This compound painted Nahuatl hieroglyph stands for the place name Huitzilhuacan (“Place with Hummingbirds”). The compound reads downward and contains three elements. At the top is a profile view of a hummingbird facing left. It has a long beak, an open eye, a raised wing, and its feathers are brown. Below the bird is a flow of water with alternating droplets or beads and turbinate shells at the end of little splashes or sprays. A human hand grasps the water, serving as the phonetic syllable -hua- of possession. The water underlines the presence of an “a” vowel, which is found both in the -hua- syllable and the -can locative suffix (not otherwise shown visually).