Imacehual (MH518r)

Imacehual (MH518r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for the personal name Imacehual (perhaps "“His/Her Merits,” “His/Her Worthy One,” or “His/Her Vassal”) is attested here as a man's name. It shows the man in question with a dancer's handheld fan or a headdress of six green feathers (probably quetzalli, though this does not enter into the decipherment of the name). This feather fan is attached to a red, t-shaped device--possibly wooden--that connects to the back of the tribute payer's head. The red is slightly pink or purple. The man's face is painted a flesh tone.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The colors for this glyph are unusual for the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, which presents most glyphs in black and white. The headdress (perhaps a tzoncalli) or feather fan might be considered in two ways for reaching an understanding of the name Imacehual. It may have been a gift as a result of some perceived merit on the part of the person who wore it, something he deserved (-macehual), and possessed in the third person singular (i-), resulting in "His Merit." The other option would be that this headdress was related to his role in a dance (macehualiztli). Perhaps both were true. A final consideration is that the person wearing this feather device was someone's vassal (macehualli), but this decipherment seems less likely.

The possessive pronoun in the third person singular (i-) is not represented visually unless the fact that the headdress is connected to the head of the person named underlines that it is *his*. If that is the case, then this could be seen as a compound glyph, not just a simplex.

See below for other headdresses, typically shown in representations of deities or divine forces, such as Xolotl or Tlaloc, or warrior regalia.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

pe^o ymaçeual

Gloss Normalization:

Pedro Imacehual

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

possessive pronoun

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Feathers

Gender (male)

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Music, Song, Dance

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Wood, wooden things

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

rectangular

T-shapes

curving, curvy, curved

profile view

facing right

Keywords:

headdresses, tocados, merecimiento, merecer, mérito, vasallos, bailar, danzas, divisas, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

-macehual (when possessed), a worthy person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehual
i-, his/her possessive prefix, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/i
macehua, to dance, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehua
macehualiz(tli), a dance or dancing, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehualiztli
macehual(li), vassal, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehualli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Su Mérito

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 518r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=115&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).

Orthography:

"çe" for ce

"y" for i

dropped "h"

Historical Contextualizing Image: