pipiltotontin (MH485r)

pipiltotontin (MH485r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for pipiltotontin, children or boys, was attached to the head of a man whose personal name was Xiuhnel. This glyph is a group of five heads, all shown in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. Their hairstyles would appear to be that of boys or men.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Another way to refer to a group of children would be to use "pipiltzitzintin," as attested under the term pilli in our Online Nahuatl Dictionary. The diminutive "ton" seems important here, as could support a reading of children and distinguish the group from nobles (pipiltin). Yet Horacio Carochi stresses that if the "tzin" reverential is not part of the word, then nobility is what is being indicated. So, perhaps these are not children but lesser nobles.

The gloss for this glyph is incomplete, but the presence of that final "t" suggests that the "ton" was originally reduplicated (as with the "pipil"), so we have added the plural suffix (-tin). This is also supported given that the visual shows a group.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

pipiltot...

Gloss Normalization:

pipiltotontin

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:

diminutive (in gloss/text)

noun(s)

pluralization (visual or textual)

reduplication (in gloss/text)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Keywords:

pilli, nobles, muchachos, niños, jóvenes, youth, boys, children

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

pil(li), a noble or a child, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/pilli
pipil(tin), nobles, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/pipiltin

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 485r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=45&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).