Mecahua (MH735r)

Mecahua (MH735r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Mecahua (perhaps “He Has a Mistress”) is attested here as a man’s name. It shows a rope (mecatl) that is loosely doubled over, twisted, and frayed at one end. The -hua or -huan ending to the name, indicating possession, is not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

If the name were literal, it would translate “He Has a Rope,” but one meaning of mecatl refers to having one or more mistresses. The term entered Spanish slang as mecate with this meaning.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (female)
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Rope, cord
Sexuality, Fertility
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
curving, curvy, curved
twisted or entwined
Keywords: 

amantes, concubinas, sogas, cordones, nombres de hombres

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

meca(tl), cord/rope, or concubine, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mecatl
-hua (possessive suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/hua-0
mecahua, someone with one or more mistresses, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mecahua

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Tiene Concubina

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 735r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=548&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: 
intrusive overbar
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

mecatl (MH538r)

Aztamecatl (MH650r)

Ticomecatl (MH650v)