Tlalli (MH677v)

Tlalli (MH677v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tlalli (“Soil”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a bird’s eye view of a group of approximately three dozen small dots, presumably suggesting soil (tlalli).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

As our Online Nahuatl Dictionary shows, there are many translations for tlalli. The visual for tlalli that comprises this glyph suggests that “dirt” or “soil” may be more relevant here than a parcel of land or the Earth. Still, soil would be a concept important for agriculture, just as having access to land is also essential for agriculture.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
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)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Agriculture, Gardens, Stock Raising
Cleanliness, Orderliness, and their absence
Gender (male)
Land Parcels, Use, Issues
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
dotted, granular, textured
bird's eye view
Keywords: 

tierra, nombres de hombres

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

tlal(li), land, soil, dirt, etc., https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Tierra

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 677v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=435&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: 

Centlal (MH666v)

Ixtlatlal (MH712r)

Motlalnelo (MH746r)

Tlalatl (MH489r)

Tlalicuilol (MH746v)

Tlalli (MH564r)

Tlalli (MH529v)