Icnonemitl (Verg24r)

Icnonemitl (Verg24r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of a man’s head in profile, facing left, with tears coming down his visible cheek. Three footprints going in different directions appear below this head (not the tribute payer’s own head) suggesting that the subject of the name 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. Another Icnonemitl that combines footprints with the head of an older man can be found on folio 26 recto of the Codex Vergara.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

jua.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)

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Emotions

Footprint(s), human

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing left

profile view

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

humildad, pobreza, orfandad, nombres de hombres, men’s names

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 24r, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f55.item.zoom , accessed 22 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: