Teohua (MH565r)

Teohua (MH565r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Teohua (“Possessor of Divinity,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a vertical stone (tetl), which provides the phonetic start to the name. The stone has the usual curling ends and curving, diagonal stripes. Above the stone is a profile view of a bald head with a face. This seems to point to the divinity (teotl) implied in the name. The culmination of the name, a -hua possessive indicator, is not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The teotl (divinity, spirit) of the Codex Mendoza is half of the symbol for tonatiuh, the sun, something that underlines a place for the sun in Nahua religion. By two decades later, in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, teotl is appearing fairly regularly with an anthropomorphic head and/or face. This suggests some influence from Christianity.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

peo. teoua

Gloss Normalization: 

Pedro Teohua

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
phonetic dimensions
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
possessive pronoun
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous Christianity)
Religion (Indigenous)
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
facing right
profile view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
striped
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
upward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

deidades, deities, divinidades, divinities, divine forces, possessive, stripes, curling

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

teo(tl), divinity or spirit, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teotl
-hua (a singular possessive suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/hua

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Poseedor de Divinidad

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 565r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=209&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: 

Xochiteotl (MH500r)

Teoxoch (MH524v)