Motlaloatl (Verg28r)

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Motlaloatl (perhaps a variation on Motlaoani, a fleer or a runner, to refer to someone who has fled the pueblo?), attested here as a man’s name. The compound has three components: footprints, which could refer to running or fleeing (motlaloa) or to a road (otli, a phonetic indicator for the -o- in the name); two front teeth (tlantli), for the phonetic syllable tla; and one more rather key element that is, as yet, unidentified. It looks something like a wooden lock or sluice gate. For something technologically similar, perhaps, see the chinamitl below.