Huitziltepec (CQ)

Huitziltepec (CQ)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph stands for the place name Huitziltepec ("On Hummingbird Hill"). It shows a hummingbird (huitzilin) head merged with a mountain (tepetl) shape. The bird's head and the mountain are outlined in black and painted a mottled green. The bird is shown in profile, looking to the viewer's right. Its long beak is left natural. Its little eye appears to be open. The locative suffix (-c), not shown visually on its own, is merged with the -tepe-, which provides a sense of the location.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This hummingbird head can be compared somewhat favorably to the glyph of one in the Codex Mendoza (below). In earlier forms, the hummingbird head might have been inside its space or sitting right on top of it (not incorporated into it). This merging is interesting. The glyph for mountain is still somewhat bell-shaped, but it is verging on a landscape painting. It does not have rocky outcroppings on the slopes, nor does it have the horizontal line toward the base (which is sometimes colored white or red and yellow). So, this seems to represent an evolution away for hieroglyphic writing.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

vitziltepec

Gloss Normalization: 

Huitziltepec

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Quetzalecatzin, Codex (CQ)
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
locative (visual not silent)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
green (light)
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bell-shaped (upright)
facing right
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
inherent/internal/merged
downward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Keywords: 

hills, mountains, cerros, montañas, colibríes, hummingbirds

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

huitzil(in), hummingbird, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huitzilin
tepe(tl), hill or mountain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepetl
-c (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/c

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

P[ueblo] Huitziltepec “On Hummingbird Hill.” Matthew T. McDavitt, “Placenames in the Codex Quetzalecatzin,” unpublished essay shared 2-21-2018.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

En el Cerro del Colibrí

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, aka Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec, Codex Ehecatepec-Huitziltepec, or Charles Ratton Codex. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017590521/

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress, current custodian of this pictorial Mexican manuscript, hosts a digital version online. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tepetl (CQ)

huitzilin (CQ)

tepetl (Mdz38r)

huitzilin (Mdz3v)

huitzilin (Mdz20r)