Ihuitl (MH520v)

Ihuitl (MH520v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Ihuitl (here, attested as a man's name) consists of two upright feathers (ihuitl) connected by a line at their bases. The central calamus is very clear in both feathers, as are the downy barbs below the vanes.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The presence of two feathers seems intentional. Perhaps it is a visual reduplication that suggests a plural reading for the name "Feathers."

Feathers permeate Nahua material culture (especially the work of artisans), they played a role in the economy (as tribute items and numerical symbols), and they held a significance in religious beliefs and practices associated with offerings/sacrifice and the vivifying energy called tonalli. {See Caplan 2020 in the bibliography, on the left.]

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

lurenço yhuitl

Gloss Normalization: 

Lorenzo Ihuitl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzinco, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
line connecting elements
noun(s)
reduplication (visual)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Feathers
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

feathers, plumas, quills

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

ihui(tl), feathers, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ihuitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Las Plumas

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 520v, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=120&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mamaz (MH519r)

Tlapalihuitl (MH509r)

Toztli Icuil (MH498v)

chamolli (MH484v)

Ayocuan (MH493r)