Molcamani (MH608r)

Molcamani (MH608r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Molcamani ("Like an Underdeveloped Ear of Maize") is attested here as a man's name. It shows a human hand (maitl), in a phonetic role for the -mani suffix (to be in the manner of). The hand is holding an upright cob of corn (molcaitl) from the upper tip. The cob has been shed of its husk. There are vague marks suggestive of kernels.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

When the parents are naming a baby, it might be seen as a cute, little, undeveloped ear of corn, given that corn is so central to daily life. While Karttunen suggests that these ears can be considered "inferior," that might not be what the parents were thinking at the time. Note how these little cobs do resemble the cintli corn cobs, with a similar shape and unwrapped, whereas the xilotl is still partially wrapped and it has silk (below). The IDIEZ native-speaker group from the Huaxteca explain that these tiny ears are immediately shucked upon harvesting. See our Online Nahuatl Dictionary for both entries for molcatl.

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

phonetic dimensions

Syntax:

ma or man syllable (from maitl)

noun(s)

verb

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Agriculture, Gardens, Stock Raising

Anatomy, human body parts

Corn, Maize

Food, Eating, Cooking

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Plants, Flora

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

upward

Keywords:

corn cobs, mazorcas pequeñas que faltan desarrollarse, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

molca(tl), underdeveloped corn cob, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/molcatl
ma(itl), hand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maitl
-mani, to be in the manner of, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mani-1

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Mazorca de Maíz Sin Desarrollar

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 608r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=298&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: