tentli (Mdz27r)

tentli (Mdz27r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element showing lips (tentli) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Atenco. In that compound the tentli played a phonetic role, but here, isolated, they are a logogram. The lips are expressed as half a face, including the lips, some of the one cheek that appears (given this is a profile, facing right), and the chin. This partial face has a terracotta skin color.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

lips, edges, labios, bordes

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

lip

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 27 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 64 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).