huixachin (TR28r)

huixachin (TR28r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element of a tropical tree of the acacia or mimosa family is called the huixachin.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Other glyphs for this huixachin tree, unlike this one, show a great many thorns on the trunk. The presence of so many and such notable spines supports the reading that the Nahuatl root is huitztli (spine, thorn, spike), in combination with achin, "a lot of, many." Gordon Whittaker (Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 99) suggests this interpretation. The leaves of the huixachin had a role in the Aztec recipe for black ink. (See: Manuel Orozco y Berra, La civilización azteca, 1988, 125.) Follow this link to see a photo of a "huizache" tree, with its yellow flowers and seed pods.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Telleriano-Remensis, Codex (TR)
Date of Manuscript: 

ca. 1550–1563

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Wood, wooden things
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
green (light)
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
roots are visible
Keywords: 

trees, árboles

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

huixachin, a tropical tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huixachin

Image Source: 

Telleriano-Remensis Codex, folio 28 recto, MS Mexicain 385, Gallica digital collection, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8458267s/f81.item.zoom

Image Source, Rights: 

The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Huixachtitlan (TR28r)

huixachin (Mdz17v)

huixachin (TR28r)

mizquitl (TR42r)