Tlacuilo (MH576v)

Tlacuilo (MH576v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or occupation Tlacuilo (“Writer/Painter,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a full view of a human hand grasping a writing or painting implement (brush? quill?). The shape of it is much like a huictli in miniature.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Writing on paper and digging in agricultural fields were activities that had a conceptual overlap. The verb icuiloa (or ihcuiloa, with the glottal stop) was sometimes combined with terms like tlalli (land parcel) and cuemitl (chinampa). See some examples below.

This "Tlacuilo" glyph and gloss are placed as though this is the man's name. They are not in the usual place in this manuscript for an occupation, and yet it still seems likely that this person was a scribe.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

luys tlacuillo

Gloss Normalization: 

Luis Tlacuilo

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: 
cuil (tracking)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Occupations
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Writing, Literacy
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
frontal view
Keywords: 

writer, scribe, escribiente, escritor, escribano, literacy, alfabetismo, pens, plumas, paintbrushes, pinceles, nombres de hombres

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

tlacuilo, writer, painter, scribe, notary, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacuilo

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Pintor, El Escribano

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 576v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=232&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: 

Tlalicuilol (MH551r)

Cuemicuilo (MH514r)

Mocuemicuilo (MH521v)

huictli (Mdz64r)