Mexicatl (MH595r)

Mexicatl (MH595r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or ethnic designation, Mexicatl (“Person from Mexico,” attested here as a man’s name), shows a profile view of a man's head looking toward the viewer's right. His eye is open, and his mouth is closed. The appearance of this man is different from the tribute payer who has this name or ethnicity. The head in the glyph has long hair that hangs down well below his jawline.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The ethnicity we know of as Mexica is a plural. Mexicatl is a singular. But we also see Mexi as the singular. Two examples of Mexi appear below. The plural form Mexitin has not come into this database yet (May 2023) as a hieroglyph, although the term can be found in alphabetic Nahuatl texts, such as the Codex Chimalpahin and the Codex Chimalpopoca.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

galisto mexicatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Calixto Mexicatl

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: 
personal name
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Hair (human or animal)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Race, Ethnicity, Identity
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Keywords: 

ethnicities, etnicidades, Mexicas, pelo largo, long hair

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

mexica(tl), a Mexica, an ethnicity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mexicatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Mexica, El Nahua, El Mexicano

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 595r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=269&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 (MH500v)

Mexi (MH569r)

Mexi (MH659r)