Tepotzomani (MH878r)

Tepotzomani (MH878r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tepotzomani (perhaps “In the Manner of a Hunchbacked Person”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a man standing in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. His arms (not well defined) reach forward. His legs may have pantaloons, but below the knee they are just sticks with no feet. His back has a hump. His head has tiny short lines for hair, almost non-existent. This person has a handicap. The -mani suffix (in the manner of) is only implied, not shown visually.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Having some kind of physical issue could have been a plus in Nahua culture. Ben Leeming has written about such people as "morally neutral, supernaturally powerful, and ultimately essential members of the Mesoamerican sacred realm." [See: “Big-Old Long Lips, Big-Old Jar Nose": Ancient Mesoamerican Monsters and Clowns and the Transformation of Christianity in Early Colonial Mexico," Ancient Mesoamerica 33:2 (Summer 2022).

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

gaspar tepotzo mani

Gloss Normalization:

Gaspar Tepotzomani

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

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:

Anatomy, human body parts

Gender (male)

Health, Medicine

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Nudity

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Keywords:

jorovado, corcovado, hunchbacked, alter-abled, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tepotzo(tli), a hunchbacked person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepotzotli
-mani, in the manner of, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mani-1

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

A la Manera de una Persona Quejada de Una Joroba

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 878r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=828&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: