icnotl (MH503v)

icnotl (MH503v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the element representing icnotl, the noun for "orphan," shows a frontal view of a simple, tiny, face. It is a small circle with two dots for eyes and one dot for the mouth.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The relative size of this glyph seems intentional, being small, just as some glyphs enlarge their subjects. Perhaps this is meant as a baby face. Perhaps it is meant to convey the vulnerability that "orphan" implies.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Children, Childhood, Adolescence
Family, Kinship, even Friendship
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
dotted, granular, textured
frontal view
size (relative, intentional)
Keywords: 

huérfanos, orphans, icno, humble, humilde

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

icno(tl), orphan, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/icnotl

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 503v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=86&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

See Also: 

Icnonemitl (MH503v)

Icnotl (MH483v)

Icnotl (MH541v)