Mexi (MH500v)

Mexi (MH500v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Mexi (or Mexih, with the glottal stop) is attested here as a man’s name or ethnic affiliation. It shows a maguey plant (metl), which serves as a phonetic indicator that the name starts with "Me-". The name is meant to elicit is Mexi, another name for Huitzilopochtli, which became the root of the ethnic name for the people who carried him in the migration that resulted in the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. (This is attested in our Online Nahuatl Dictionary, in the entry for Mexi.) The maguey has five spiky and spiny branches (or pencas, in Spanish). No recognizable visual element provides the phonetic -xih of the name.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Another ethnicity that refers to someone from the area of the lakes upon which Mexico Tenochtitlan was founded is Anahuacatl, although that could also refer to people who lived near the oceans, on the coast.

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juan
mexi

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Mexih

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
phonetic dimensions
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as phonogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
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: 
frontal view
pointed (see also spiky)
spiky
spiny
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

ethnicity, ethnicities, etnicidades, capitalinos, ciudad de México, Mexica, magueyes

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

me(tl), maguey agave plant, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/metl
Mexi (or Mexih), a person affiliated with Mexico City, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mexi

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Mexicano

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 500v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=80&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mexi (MH569r)

Mexicatl (MH595r)

Anahuacatl (MH526v)

Anahuacatl (MH502r)

Mexi (MH659r)