Nahui Calli (Mdz2r)

Nahui Calli (Mdz2r)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This combined simplex glyph plus notation stands for a solar year (xihuitl) date, Four House (4-House). It has the notation (four ones, nahui) on the top and the house or building (calli) below. The ones are just small circles, with no smaller concentric circles or dots in the middle. The building is the standard, rectangular sign with T-shaped wooden beams. The entire date (including the background) is painted a turquoise color, and it is enclosed in a black line-drawing box, which is indicative of a date. The terms for year (xihuitl) and for turquoise blue (xihuitl) are homophones, and for this reason, the paint could be seen as a phonetic indicator for "year."

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
year name
homophony, rebus
numbers
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Architecture, Construction, Buildings
Numbers, Math
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Wood, wooden things
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
boxed in
circle, circular or rounded
rectangular
right angle(s)
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

dates, fechas, ones, numbers, números, years, años, casas, edificios, arquitectura, houses, buildings, xiuhpohualli, turquesa, xihuitl

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

nahui, four, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nahui
cal(li), house or building, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/calli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Cuatro Casa

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 02 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 14 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).