queso (CST47)

queso (CST47)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a painting of the simplex glyph for the term queso (cheese, a loanword that entered Nahuatl from Spanish). It shows a bird’s eye view of a full round of cheese. It has an intricate pattern pressed into the exterior. This forms quadrants, and each quadrant has a series of nesting right angles. The result is something like a quincunx shape.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

For more on the Codex Sierra, see Kevin Terraciano’s study (2021).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Sierra/Texupan, Codex (CST)
Date of Manuscript: 

1550–1564

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Santa Catalina Texupan, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Food, Eating, Cooking
Markets, Commerce, Economy
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bird's eye view
circle, circular or rounded
quincunx or quatrefoil
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

economía, mercancías, ventas, comercio, comida, rondas de queso

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

queso (a loanword that entered Nahuatl from Spanish), cheese, or a round of cheese, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/queso

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

queso

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Códice Sierra-Texupan, plate 47, page dated 1561. Origin: Santa Catalina Texupan, Mixteca Alta, State of Oaxaca. Kevin Terraciano has published an outstanding study of this manuscript (Codex Sierra, 2021), and in his book he refers to alphabetic and “pictorial” writing, not hieroglyphic writing. We are still counting some of the imagery from this source as hieroglyphic writing, but we are also including examples of “iconography” where the images verge on European style illustrations or scenes showing activities. We have this iconography category so that such images can be fruitfully compared with hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphic writing was evolving as a result of the influence of European illustrations, and even alphabetic writing impacted it.
https://bidilaf.buap.mx/objeto.xql?id=48281&busqueda=Texupan&action=search

Image Source, Rights: 

The Biblioteca Digital Lafragua of the Biblioteca Histórica José María Lafragua in Puebla, Mexico, publishes this Códice Sierra-Texupan, 1550–1564 (62pp., 30.7 x 21.8 cm.), referring to it as being in the “Public Domain.” This image is published here under a Creative Commons license, asking that you cite the Biblioteca Digital Lafragua and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.

Historical Contextualizing Image: