Itzmiquilpan (Mdz27r)

Itzmiquilpan (Mdz27r)
Compound Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This is a multicolored painting of the compound glyph for the place name Itzmiquilpan (perhaps, "On the Purslane"). It consists of three elements. At the top is a vertical itztli (obsidian blade, which also looks much like a tecpatl, flint knife). It is red at the top and white at the bottom, and the division between the two colors is on an angle. This is a phonetic indicator that the herb pictured (purslane in English and verdolaga in Spanish) starts with itz-. Below the blade is a curving green plant (the itzmitl, also called quilitl) with four leaves. Finally, the plant rests on a horizontal, rectangular, segmented agricultural field (milli) that is alternating purple and orange or terracotta in color. The field also has dots and backward C-shapes that seem to suggest cultivation.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The milli can be a phonetic indicator for the -mi- part of the place name, while it also serves as a semantic indicator that the itzmitl or quilitl is growing in a field.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

yzmiquilpā. pu^o

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Itzmiquilpan, pueblo (or Itzmilquilpan?)

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

phonetic dimensions

place name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Agriculture, Gardens, Stock Raising

Food, Eating, Cooking

Land Parcels, Use, Issues

Names (places)

Plants, Flora

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

bird's eye view

C-shapes (any direction)

curving, curvy, curved

dotted, granular, textured

segmented

U-shapes (any direction)

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

upward

multidirectional

Reading Order, Notes:

The reading goes down from the top, and then back up.

Keywords:

obsidian blades, flint knife, flint knives, flints, verdolaga, purslane, herbs, agricultural field, land, nombres de lugares

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

itz(tli), obsidian blade, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itztli
itzmi(tl), purslane, an herb, a type of quilitlm https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itzmitl
quil(itl), edible herbs and vegetables, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quilitl
mil(li), agricultural field, kitchen garden, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content, milli

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 27 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 64 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).