Tlaltetecuin (Verg12r)

Tlaltetecuin (Verg12r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tlaltetecuin (“Earth Stomper" or "Earth Pounder," attested here as a man’s name) shows a bird's eye view of a bordered, rectangular piece of land (tlalli) divided into two parcels or segments. The segment on the left has one large round dot, and the one on the right has many small dots (suggesting cultivation). Above the rectangular land element are two horizontal stones, with their curling ends both upward and downward. Across the middle of each stone are parallel, wavy, horizontal lines. These stones (tetl) provide the phonetic value and visual reduplication for the "-tete-" part of the name, which is alphabetically reduplicated, as shown in the gloss. Tetecuini is a verb meaning to pound, which the stones support both phonetically and semantically.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Tlaltetecuin is also the name of a divine or sacred force or deity, the Earth Pounder. Tlaltetecuin and Ixtlilton were related deities associated with medicine and dances that bring health, but also with the communication between humans and the divine world. For more information, see Katarzyna Mikulska, Tejiendo Destinos (2015). Might earth pounding have something to do with earthquakes? Or might an Earth stomper be a dancer? Or perhaps one who is tamping down the ground after seeding it? Assistance with the interpretation of this glyph and the deity name would be appreciated.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juan tlaltetecui

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Tlaltetecuin

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Writing Features: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Keywords: 

tierras, parcelas, piedras, golpear

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Tierra Golpeada

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 
Image Source, Rights: 

The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Historical Contextualizing Image: