tetl (Mdz40r)

tetl (Mdz40r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for stone (tetl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Ichcaatoyac. This stone is vertical and it has the typical wavy orange and purple lines and the curly ends.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The "te" of tetl does not have a phonetic role in the place name Ichcaatoyac. Its visual presence may be a reference to the local landscape.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
locative (visual but silent)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
purple
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
vertical, upright
wavy
Keywords: 

stones, rocks, piedras

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

te(tl), stone or rock, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

stone or rock

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la piedra, la roca

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 40 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 90 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).

See Also: 

Ichcaatoyac (Mdz40r)