Icnotl (Verg48v)

Icnotl (Verg48v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Icnotl (“Orphan” or “Poor Person”), attested here as a man’s name. The compound has two elements. One is the head of a man in profile, facing left. A tear runs down his cheek with the intention of showing his sadness about being either an orphan or a poor person (icnotl). A stream of water attaches to his mouth, perhaps to evoke the verb i, to drink. This apparently provides a complementary phonetic syllable for the start of the name, I-.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Other hieroglyphs for Icnotl in this digital collection also show tears running down men’s faces. Tears are one of the most common expressions of emotions in the collection. Two variations are a nude baby or fetus, which seems to be an expression of the vulnerability of an orphan, and a tiny face, just a small circle with dots for two eyes and a mouth.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

anto. ycnotl.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Antonio Icnotl

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
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
syllable: i (from the verb to drink)
verb
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Emotions
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
right to left
Keywords: 

lágrimas, agua, beber, nombres de hombres, men’s names, fonetismo

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

icon(tl), an orphan, or someone poor and worthy of compassion,, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/icnotl
i, to drink, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/i-0

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Huérfano, o Persona Pobre

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 48v, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f104.item.zoom, accessed 25 March 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543. “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Image Source, Rights: 

Image 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: 
See Also: 

Icnotl (MH541v)

Icnotli (MH832r)

Icnomachoc (MH615v)

Icnotl (MH483v)

Icnonemitl (MH503v)

Icnotl (Verg40r)