Quenmachoc (MH878v)

Quenmachoc (MH878v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Quenmachoc (perhaps “He Knew How” or “He Knew What”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows an eye, which may refer to knowledge and knowing (and therefore the verb macho). Seeing and knowing are connected in the Nahua culture, as evidenced in the verb ixtlamati, which combines the two. The compound also includes a hand, standing for the phonetic syllable ma, which provides the start to -machoc. There may be tears coming down from the eye, but some of these visuals are difficult to decipher.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Two other glyphs in this collection end in -machoc. One is Icnomachoc (perhaps a humble known person) and the other is Aquenmachoc, a term that may be the opposite of the one in question here, perhaps an unknown person or the statement “no one knew.” These terms require further thought or research.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

augustin q~machoc

Gloss Normalization:

Agustín Quenmachoc

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:

ma or man syllable (from maitl)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Education, Knowledge, Wisdom

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Keywords:

ojos, manos, saber, sabiduría, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

macho, to know something, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macho
quen, how, what, in what manner, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quen
Ixtlamati, to exercise reason and prudence, to have knowledge through experience, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ixtlamati

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Él Supo

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 878v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=829&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: