Tlacatoncatl (MH641v)

Tlacatoncatl (MH641v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or status, Tlacatoncatl ("Little Person"), attested here as a man's name, shows a person (tlacatl) seated and facing the viewer's right. The body--especially the lower half--is small, and it is naked, suggesting vulnerability. Perhaps it is a baby or child, to convey the diminutive size. The -catl suffix (referring to a person with that characteristic or affiliation) is not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The affiliation suffix could suggest that this person belongs to a group of little people, people with the genetic or medical condition sometimes called "dwarfism" in English (which is an offensive term for many). Motecuhzoma II kept a group of little people for entertainment and for advice, because they were believed to have supernatural powers. (See Mexicolore article on the topic, which quotes a book by Mary Miller and Karl Taube.

Other disabilities can be found as personal name glyphs, such as Xonecuil and Chicol.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

tlacatōcatk

Gloss Normalization: 

Tlacatoncatl

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)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Children, Childhood, Adolescence
Disabilities
Gender (male)
Measurements, Quantities
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Nudity
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
profile view
facing right
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
inherent/internal/merged
Keywords: 

pequeño, diminutivo, small, niño, bebé, chico, enanos, enanas, nombres de hombres

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

tlaca(tl), person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacatl
-tontli, small, little, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tontli
-catl, ethnicity, affiliation, or an indication of a title, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/catl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Chiquillo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 641v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=365&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: 

Xonecuil (MH508r)