Teacalco (Mdz21v)

Teacalco (Mdz21v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Teacalco, consists of two obvious elements, a stone (tetl) with water (atl) in it. The water is the usual turquoise blue color, with black lines of current, two white water droplets/beads and two white turbinate shells splashing off the top. The stone has the usual wavy, alternating lines of purple and terracotta color, and curling outcroppings in two places along the bottom. The overall shape is primarily horizontal, and nearly oval, nearly trapezoidal. The locative suffix (-co) is not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The stone has the shape of a boat, which could be intended to provide the phonetic "acal" of acalli, boat or house on the water.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

teacalco. puo

Gloss Normalization: 

Teacalco, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
phonetic dimensions
place name
Syntax: 
locative (not visual)
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Marine, Maritime, Lacustrine
Movement
Names (places)
Shells
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
blue (turquoise)
orange/terracotta
purple
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
striped
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
wavy
curving, curvy, curved
cross-sectioned object
horizontal
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Number of Parts, Other / Comment: 

Possibly only two elements (stone and water), but a third is possible (acalli, boat).

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
upward
Keywords: 

agua, piedras, canoas, lanchas

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

te(tl), rock or stone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetl
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl
acal(li), boat or canoe, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/acalli
cal(li), house or building, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/calli
-co (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/co

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 21 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 53 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

tetl (Mdz21v)

atl (Mdz21v)

acalli (Mdz4v)