Teocaltzinco (Mdz23r)

Teocaltzinco (Mdz23r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound glyph for the place name Teocaltzinco has two principal elements. One is a white, pyramidal, stepped temple (teocalli) in profile facing to the right, with a small, white building (calli) at the top of the steps, also facing the viewer's right. The t-shaped beams of the entrance to the small building are colored terracotta. Above the T is a rectangle with many small squares. The other principal element of the compound glyph is a half male body below the temple. This is a male because a white loincloth belt is visible; the positioning of the knees is also gendered male in this case. Attention is to the buttocks, bottom, or rear end of the person, indicating the word tzintli. This sign is meant to provide the phonetic value for locative suffix -tzinco.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The word teocalli combines the teo- prefix used for divine or sacred force(s) and the term for house or building (calli). The design on the roof of the structure at the top of the pyramid is somewhat reminiscent of the one in the glyph for Capolteopan (see below). It should also be compared to the teocalli in our iconography collection (below). The buttocks provides no semantic contribution, just the phonetic, and it only works in the Nahuatl language.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

teocalçinco.pu^o

Gloss Normalization:

Teocaltzinco, 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:

place name

Syntax:

locative (not visual)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Architecture, Construction, Buildings

Gender (male)

Names (places)

Religion (Indigenous)

Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia

Wood, wooden things

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

orange/terracotta

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

buttocks, rear end, houses, buildings, temples, architecture, casas, edificios, templos, arquitectura nalgas, trasero

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

teocal(li), temple, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teocalli
cal(li), house or building, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/calli
teo(tl), divine or sacred force(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teotl
tzin(tli), buttocks, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzintli
-co (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/co
-tzinco (locative suffix), lower, little, or new [town], https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzinco

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 23 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 56 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).