Matlaltzincatl (MH605r)

Matlaltzincatl (MH605r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or ethnicity Matlaltzincatl (“Person of Matlaltzinco,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a three-petal matlalin flower. The place name Matlaltzinco is found in historical sources such as Bernal Díaz, but even there one suspects that he is referring to Matlatzinco, for the glyphs for that area of the Toluca Valley show nets (matlatl) rather than these flowers (matlalin). Perhaps this tlacuilo was not familiar with the Toluca Valley. But it is also conceivable that there was a place name Matlaltzinco.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

See below for an example of the Matlatzinco glyphs and for other matlalin flowers. Sometimes the matlalin has four petals, which give it a quincunx shape, and that could lend itself to a cosmic or celestial reading, such as can be seen in some tonalli glyphs.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

p.^o matlaltzīcatl

Gloss Normalization:

Pedro Matlaltzincatl (or Pedro Matlatzincatl)

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

phonetic dimensions

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Flowers

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Plants, Flora

Race, Ethnicity, Identity

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

tripartite

frontal view

Keywords:

valle de Toluca, Matlatzincas, etnicidad

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

matlatzinca, an ethnicity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlatzinca
Matlatzinco, the name for the Toluca valley, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlatzinco
matlal(in), a blue-green color or a flower that color, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlalin-0
matla(tl), a net, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlatl
-catl (affiliation), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/catl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

una persona de la cultura Matlatzinca

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 605r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=292st=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: