Tlailotlacan (X.040.B.27)

Tlailotlacan (X.040.B.27)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph from the Codex Xolotl represents the place name Tlailotlan. It features the verb iloa (to return). The glyph shows a horizontal horseshoe shape (with the opening on the right) filled with footprints. At the top, two footprints head toward the left, then they make the turn (at the curve in the U-shape) and the other two footprints come back toward the viewer's right. The locative suffix (-can) is not a part of the glyph, but the context may make it clear that this is a location.

Description, Credit: 

Marc Thouvenot and Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Marc Thouvenot generously contributed this magnificently economical glyph from his study of the Codex Xolotl, saying: "Las huellas transcriben en este contexto el verbo iloa 'regresar'." Footprints represent a great many verbs and other parts of speech, as discussed in an essay that appears on the left navigation bar, "Multivalence of Footprints."

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Marc Thouvenot and Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Xolotl, Codex (Xolo)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1542

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tetzcoco, State of Mexico.

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
verb
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Footprint(s), human
Transportation, Travel, Roads
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
bird's eye view
U-shapes (any direction)
Keywords: 

huellas, volver, verbos, nombres de lugares

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

iloa, to return, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/iloa
Tlailotlacan, a recurring place name across central Mexico, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlailotlacan

Image Source: 

Courtesy of Marc Thouvenot, TLACHIA, https://cen.sup-infor.com/home/tlachia/%20X.040.B.27/glifo/codigo. Personal communication, 22 December 2024. The original manuscript is located in the Bibliothèque nationale de France [Fonds Mexicain 1-10].

Image Source, Rights: 

Open access.

Historical Contextualizing Image: