Tetzauh (MH592r)

Tetzauh (MH592r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tetzauh (“Omen,” attested here as a man’s name) consists of a spiraling line.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This spiral may be a phonetic indicator for tzauhqui, spinner, thinking of the line a spinning top or a spindle will make at its base. At least two other glyphs for Tetzauh in this collection show spindles. However, swirling or spiraling shapes are extremely prevalent in Nahua hieroglyphic writing. Swirls such as those seen in water (see Atonal, below) or the wind may have been associated with premonitions and/or access points for entering a separate reality.

Another possible reading to this glyph for the name Tetzauh is "adulterer." Charles Dibble refers to the Tetzauhcihuatl ("Glifos fonéticos," Estudios de Cultural Náhuatl 4 (1963), 58) as referring to an adulteress. So, this could be the male adulterer.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

gozalo tetzauh

Gloss Normalization: 

Gonzalo Tetzauh

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Dreams, Visions
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
frontal view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Keywords: 

swirling, remolino, omens, profecía, prophesy, agueros, auguries, prognostication, foretelling

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

tetzahui(tl), omen, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetzahuitl
tzauhqui, a spinner, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzauhqui
tzahualiz(tli), the act of spinning (such as yarn or thread), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzahualiztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Aguero

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 592r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=263&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).

Orthography: 
dropped "n"
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Atezcahuacan (Mdz12r)

Atonal (MH607r)

Tetzauh (MH627v)

Tetzauh (MH651r)

Tetzauh (MH647v)

Tetzauh (MH733r)