Orozco (Osu17r)

Orozco (Osu17r)
Compound Hieroglyph
Spanish Loanword

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the Spanish surname Orozco. It has two elements. At the top is a shell, perhaps the chipolli, which could offer the phonetic syllable Ol- as a start to the name (the Nahuatl equivalent of Or-, given that the “r” did not exist in the Nahuatl alphabet). Below the shell is a pottery jug (comitl), which contributes the phonetic syllable -co. Dr. Orozco was a magistrate (oidor) of the high court (Audiencia).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Another effort to decipher this name gives “ci-co, (Horo)zco,” because the shell appears to be a cilin (another name for a turbinate shell). [See: Alonso Zamora, Tlacuilolli: A Blog about Mesoamerican Writing Systems, https://tlacuilolli.com/2023/11/27/whats-in-a-name-the-mystery-of-a-glyph-in-codex-osuna/]. Still, the ci- syllable does not really fit here.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

horozco.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Orozco

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Osuna, Codex (Osu)
Date of Manuscript: 

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
syllable: co/con/com (from comitl, pot/jug)
syllable: ol (from chipolli, seashell)
Writing Features: 
compound fully phonographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Pottery, Earthenware
Shells
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

concha turbinada, caracol, cerámica, jarra, barro, nombres de hombres, nombres de españoles

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

com(itl), pottery jug, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/comitl
chipol(li), a small seashell, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chipolli

Image Source: 

Library of Congress Online Catalog and the World Digital Library, Osuna Codex, or Painting of the Governor, Mayors, and Rulers of Mexico, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07324/. The original is located in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Image Source, Rights: 

"The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse." But please cite the Biblioteca Nacional de España and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs if you use any of these images here or refer to the content on this page, providing the URL.

Orthography: 
"l" for r or rr
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Chipol (MH605v)

chipolli (FCbk11f212v)

chipolcozcatl (Mdz64r)

Villanueva (Osu18v)