Itztocan (Mdz42r)

Itztocan (Mdz42r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Itztocan shows an upright obsidian (itztli) blade or knife that has a red mouth and four white teeth on the right side. Underneath the knife are three horizontal, alternating footprints that move along an invisible road (otli). the locative suffix (-can) is not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Alternating footprints show movement across the landscape, and can imply a road. Here, the "o" of otli (road) has a phonetic role in the middle of the place name, Itztocan. The stem for obsidian (itzt-) also seems to play a phonetic role. Together, the two sounds produce the word itztoc, which means "something visible." So, this place may have a great view or some other characteristic that led to this name.

Footprint glyphs have a wide range of translations. In this collection, so far, we can attest to yauh, xo, pano, -pan, paina, temo, nemi, quetza, otli, iyaquic hualiloti, huallauh, tetepotztoca, totoco, -tihui, and the vowel "o." Other research (Herrera et al, 2005, 64) points to additional terms, including: choloa, tlaloa, totoyoa, eco, aci, quiza, maxalihui, centlacxitl, and xocpalli.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

ytztucan. puo

Gloss Normalization: 

Itztocan, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
homophony, rebus
phonetic dimensions
place name
Syntax: 
locative (not visual)
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Names (places)
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Transportation, Travel, Roads
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
horizontal
leaf, marquise, pointed oval
oval (see also leaf shaped)
pointed (see also spiky)
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

obsidian blades, flint knife, flint knives, roads, paths, trails

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

itz(tli), obsidian blade, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itztli
o(tli), road, path, trail, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/otli
itztoc, something visible, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itztoc
-can (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/can-0

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Lugar de la Buenavista(?)

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 42 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 94 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).

See Also: 

itztli (Mdz42r)

itztli (Mdz16r)