Motolinia (MH788v)

Motolinia (MH788v)
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 a bald-headed man with his head tilted downward. His appearance could suggest poor or humble (motolinia).

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 Motolinis is that many men also took the name Toribio, and a few had other ecclesiastics’ names, such as “de Gante.”

The head tilt seems to be a phonetic indicator for toloa, to bow or lower the head, helping with the middle part of the name (-tol-).

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:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as phonogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Body postures

Gender (male)

Hair (human or animal)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Nudity

Religion (Christian)

Religion (Indigenous Christianity)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing downward

profile view

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
toloa, to bow or lower the head, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/toloa

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

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

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 788v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=651&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: