Tecpin (MH782r)

Diagrams of flea body parts vary. Some show three pairs of legs, some show fewer. Most diagrams show mouth parts that hang down or protrude, and given the usual Nahua attention to detail with insects, it is surprising that these protrusions and the claws on the legs are not showing here. This suggests some haste in drawing this glyph or little familiarity with fleas on the part of the tlacuilo.

The term tecpin, ending in -in, is often written without an absolutive, perhaps because many animal names end in -in (e.g. michin, fish). And Michel Launey suggested the word for flea does not have an absolutive form. But tecpintli has been reconstructed by various linguists, and John Sullivan and the IDIEZ group suggest tecpimitl as the full term. See our Online Nahuatl Dictionary.