Motolinia (MH788r)

Motolinia (MH788r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name, Motolinia (either a “poor person” or named after a famous Franciscan friar), is attested here as pertaining to a man. The glyph consists of the head of a bald man, shown in profile and looking down.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia is likely the person after whom this Nahua man is named, but if not, then he is just being called a “Poor Person.” Possible supporting evidence that Nahuas took the name of the friar is that many men also took the name Toribio, and a few took other ecclesiastics’ names, such as “de Gante.” If the friar’s eye is closed in this glyph, it would suggest that he has passed away. But his biographies say he passed away in 1569, several years after the Matrícula de Huexotzinco was made.

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:

Anatomy, human body parts

Gender (male)

Hair (human or animal)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Christian)

Religion (Indigenous Christianity)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

profile view

facing right

Keywords:

pobresa, humilde, nombres famosos, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Motolinia, the name of a Franciscan missionary or a poor person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/motolinia

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

(una person pobre o el nombre de un fraile Franciscano)

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 788r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=650&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: