Tecuanchoca (MH510r)

Tecuanchoca (MH510r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tecuanchoca (here, attested as a man's name) shows the profile of a wild beast (tecuani) facing toward the viewer's left. Tears flow from its eyes (providing the -choca, for it cries). Fangs protrude from its mouth. It has some spots on its coat, and it has small upright ears.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Choca is a verb that is used in Nahuatl to refer to various noises animals make, not just the crying of humans. So, here, the animal that eats people is not literally crying (as from sadness), but it is making its animal cry. So, this person's name refers to that wild animal's cry (like a yowl?) which could carry some weight and be awe inspiring.

Fernando Horcasitas observed in contemporary Nahua communities that the dancers who played the role of the tecuani were dressed as jaguars. See ocelotl in our Online Nahuatl Dictionary.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Personality, Behavior
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Emotions
Gender (male)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
striped
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

tecuani, ferocious wild animal, literally one that bites people, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecuani
cua, to eat or to bite, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cua
choca, to cry, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/choca

Whittaker's Transliteration: 

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Aullido de una Bestia Feroz y Salvaje

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 510r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=99&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: 
See Also: 

choca (TR41v)