Nencihuatl (MH524v)

Nencihuatl (MH524v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Nencihuatl (perhaps "Lazy Woman"). The glyph shows a frontal view of what appears to be a human with a face and two rectangular points on its head. These points could be a simulation of the classic hairstyle that married sedentary women (cihuatl) wore (with the hair twisted up into two points above their foreheads). But this shape on the head also echoes the rectangular points recalling the doll or deity image (nenetl) that is so common in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, providing the "nen-" syllable. This nen- syllable seems to be a negative in most cases.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Nencihuatl is found in the dictionary, but necihuatl is not. A dropping of the letter "n" is not at all unusual; so perhaps it should be there, even though it does not appear in the gloss. If the reading should NOT be nen-, then the only other hint at a different reading comes from the dictionary term "necihuatiliztli" (a man's marriage to a woman).

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

maria neçivatl

Gloss Normalization:

María Nencihuatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

adjective

ne or nen syllable

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Children, Childhood, Adolescence

Gender (female)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Toys

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

Keywords:

women, mujeres, dolls, muñecas, nombres de mujeres, nombres negativos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cihua(tl), woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuatl
necihuahuatiliz(tli), a man’s marriage to a woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/necihuahuatiliztli
nen-, in vain, uselessly, for nothing, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nen
nenca, to be idle, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nenca
nencauh, one’s servant, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nencauh
nene(tl), doll or female genitals, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nenetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Mujer Floja

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 524v, World Digital Library.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=128&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: