Nahui Coatl (MH579v)

Nahui Coatl (MH579v)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph-plus-notation for the personal name Nahui Coatl (“Four-Serpent” or "4-Serpent") is attested here as a man’s name. It shows a coiled serpent in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. It has a rattle with two segments and spots on its body. Its bifurcated tongue protrudes. Its eye is closed. Four (nahui) short lines come off its head, providing the notation for this calendrical name.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Coatl is a day sign in the 260-day calendar called the tonalpohualli. Calendrics played an important role in Nahuas' religious views of the cosmos. Four-Serpent or 4-Serpent is likely a name given to this man when he was born (on that date). Interestingly, the timing of this manuscript, which was presented in 1560, is when some calendrical names were dropping their numerical coefficient, but not this one. The way the notation is drawn, however, is not necessarily traditional.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

agustin.nahuicouatl

Gloss Normalization:

Agustín Nahui Coatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

calendrics

day name

personal name

numbers

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Numbers, Math

Religion (Indigenous)

Time, Calendar, Frequency

Tongue Protruding/Noticeable

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

bifurcated

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

dotted, granular, textured

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

spotted or mottled

Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

snakes, serpents, serpientes, culebras, numbers, números, four, cuatro, dates, tonalpohualli, días, fechas, calendarios, fechas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

nahui, four, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nahui
coa(tl), serpent or snake, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Cuatro Serpiente, o 4-Serpiente

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 579v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=238&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: