Teuhtleuh (MH878v)

Teuhtleuh (MH878v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Teuhtleuh (literally “Dust-Fire”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows swirling flames (for fire, tletl) and perhaps swirling dust (teuhtli). The spinning movement of dust devils, like whirlpools, may have had a supernatural magic about them, and here the curling and flickering of flames may be adding to the drama. The sound of the name is also almost musical. At the base of this mixture there seems to be part of a horizontal stone (tetl), with its curling ends and diagonal stripes. If so, this likely serves as a phonetic complement for the dust, given that both start with Te-.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Smoke (poctli) does not enter into the name of this person, but the volutes that could be flames or dust curls can also resemble smoke. See below for examples of glyphs where Teuhcatl (perhaps “Dust Person”?) has almost supernatural characteristics. Flowers and flames have obvious associations of colors, shapes, intensities, and perhaps supernatural features, too (see Xochitleuh examples below), The popularity of these names and their shared iconography suggest further research might tease out more cultural meaning.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

ju^o teuhtleuh

Gloss Normalization:

Juan Teuhtleuh

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

phonetic dimensions

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke

Gender (male)

Movement

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

volute(s)

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

upward

Keywords:

polvo, fuego, flamas, humo, volutas, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

teuh(tli), dust, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teuhtli
tle(tl), fire, flames, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tletl
te(tl), stone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

literalmente, Polvo-Fuego

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 878v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=829&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: