Quetzalcoatl (MH525r)

Quetzalcoatl (MH525r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a frontal view of seven feathers [quetzal(li)] from the Quetzal bird coming up from the back of a coiled serpent. The serpent's head is in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. Its protruding tongue is bifurcated. It has a small rattler tail.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Quetzalcoatl is a fairly rare name for humans, but it is the name of a well-known divine force. One of Quetzalcoatl's aspects is as Ehecatl, the divine force of the wind. Ecatl is a hugely popular name for men in this Matrícula de Huexotzinco. James Maffie (2014, 284) reminds us of the special powers of Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, saying he "twists, swirls, gyrates, spins, and spirals," summarizing a description from the Florentine Codex.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

juan quetzalcohuatl

Gloss Normalization:

Juan Quetzalcoatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Semantic Categories:

deity name/theonym

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Feathers

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Tongue Protruding/Noticeable

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

plumas, serpientes, deidades

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Quetzalcoatl, a personal name, a deity, and a priest, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quetzalcoatl
quetzal(li), quetzal feathers, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quetzalli
coa(tl), snake, serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

La Serpiente Emplumada

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 525r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=129&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: