Teuhtli (MH527v)

Teuhtli (MH527v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for the personal name Teuhtli ("Dust") is here attested as a man's name. The glyph shows about a dozen black and gray swirls or volutes that conjure up something of a dust storm. The swirls mostly rise up and then turn inward.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Dust certainly makes whirlwinds (and their movement) more visible, and whirlwinds and whirlpools have the swirling motion that likely caught the Nahuas' attention. (See James Maffie's analysis of "motion-change" in his book Aztec Philosophy, 2014). Perhaps the name Teuhtli, "Dust," was related to the divine force known as "Teuhcatl." The Handbook of Middle American Indians: Anthology of Northern Mesoamerica (1971, 426) states that Teuhcatl was one of several Chinampaneca deities. According to the Gran Diccionario Náhuatl, this is a divinity close to Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpent). See also Molly Bassett, The Fate of Earthly Things (2015), 162.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juā . teuhtli .

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Teuhtli

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: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
visible movement
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Dirt, Sand, Soil
Gender (male)
Landscape Features
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Scrolls (Speech, Song, etc.)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Daniel Chayet and Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
volute(s)
Keywords: 

polvo, dust, dirt, tierra, torbelino

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

teuh(tli), dust, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teuhtli

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 527v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=134&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: 

Teuhcatl (MH485v)

Teuhcatl (MH506r)

Teuhton (MH527r)