Icnonemitl (Verg22r)

Icnonemitl (Verg22r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of a man in profile, facing left, and seemingly walking about (movement). The name is attested here as pertaining to a man. Three footprints going in different directions suggest that he may be aimless. Icnonemitl may be the individual’s personal name or his status.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Icnonemitl also appears in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco with the same ambiguity as to name or status. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

juā. ycnonemitl.

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Juan Icnonemitl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Vergara, Codex (Verg)

Date of Manuscript:

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

visual movement

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Children, Childhood, Adolescence

Family, Kinship, even Friendship

Footprint(s), human

Gender (male)

Movement

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

undetermined as yet

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

humildad, pobreza, orfandad

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

icnonemi(tl), one who lives humbly or like an orphan, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/icnonemitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, “Él Que Vive Como Huérfano”

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 22r, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f51.item.zoom, accessed 21 February 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543.

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.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Orthography:

"y" for i

intrusive period

Historical Contextualizing Image: