Matlatlan (Mdz10v)

Matlatlan (Mdz10v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound glyph for the place name Matlatlan features a net (matlatl) and two front teeth (tlantli), which provide the phonetic element for the locative suffix, -tlan. The teeth are the standard upper front teeth, white with red gums. The net has an oval frame attached to it, and a long stick or handle, also connected to the frame. The assumption of wood comes from the terracotta color, often given to wooden things.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The net appears to be one for catching fish in a river, lagoon, or lake. This same net is found in glyphs referring to Tolocan (modern Toluca), because the valley there had a large lagoon that used to be fished. The indigenous people there were also known as the Matlatzinca.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

matlatlan--pu^o

Gloss Normalization:

Matlatlan, pueblo

Gloss 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:

place name

Syntax:

locative (visual not silent)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Hunting and Fishing

Marine, Maritime, Lacustrine

Names (places)

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

oval (see also leaf shaped)

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

nets, teeth, fishing, place, locative,

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

matla(tl), net, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlatl
tlan(tli), tooth/teeth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli
-tlan, by, near, among, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan

Karttunen’s Interpretation:

"Net Place" [Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission.]

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 10 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 31 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).