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

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzinco, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

feathers, plumas, quills, nombres de hombres

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