Tecuhtlacocauhqui (MH737v)

Tecuhtlacocauhqui (MH737v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tecuhtlacocauhqui (“Yellow Lord,” leader of serpents) is attested here as a man’s name. It shows a serpent in profile, facing toward the viewer’s left. It has a coil at mid-body. The eye is open, the bifurcated tongue is protruding, and teeth are visible. Its body has small and large spots, including one triangular spot. The tail has a rattle.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This serpent is larger and more formidable than usual. A published discussion about this “Yellow Lord,” leader of serpents, says that it was a predator. Interestingly, there are no visuals to suggest tecuhtli (lord) or tlacocauhqui (which might be “one who surrenders as a slave”).

Gloss Image:

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

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

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Politics, Power, Governance

Religion (Indigenous)

Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites

Teeth Protruding/Noticeable

Tongue Protruding/Noticeable

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing left

profile view

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

spotted or mottled

Keywords:

serpientes, deidades, fuerzas divinas, señores, colores, amarillo, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tecuhtlacocauhqui, Yellow Lord, leader of serpents, a predator, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecuhtlacocauhqui
tlacocahua, to surrender as a slave, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacocahua

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Señor Amarillo, Líder de los Serpientes

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 737v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=553&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: