Nentlacatl (MH828v)

Nentlacatl (MH828v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Nentlacatl (perhaps “Useless Person”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a frontal view of a doll or figurine of a deity or divine force (nenetl). This one wears a skirt with a mesh pattern. It has two squared-off protrusions on its head, which could be a stylized representation of the neaxtlahualli hairdo of married women in sedentary societies, or they could reflect the style of Classic period dolls or deity figurines.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The gloss for this glyph does not underline that this name starts with Nen-, but the second “n” may have dropped inadvertently. Many names with this visual representation of a divine force or deity figure (perhaps a goddess in this case) or a female doll will start with Nen- (from nenetl). And this prefix often refers to negative qualities.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

luis netlacatl

Gloss Normalization:

Luis Nentlacatl

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:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (female)

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Toys

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

checked, cross-hatched, or mesh

frontal view

Keywords:

muñecas, esculturas de deidades, figurillas, gente floja, inútil, calidades negativas, mujeres, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tlaca(tl), a person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacatl
nene(tl), a doll, a figurine of a deity, or female genitals, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nenetl
nen-, in vain, uselessly, for nothing, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nen

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, Persona Inútil

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 828v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=731&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).

Orthography:

dropped "n"

Historical Contextualizing Image: