tlantli (Mdz10v)
This glyphic element for tlantli (teeth) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Mixtlan. In that compound it was a phonogram, but here we are including it as a logogram. It shows two, white, front teeth (tlantli) surrounded by red gums. Pairs of short vertical black lines show grooves in the central incisors. The little bit of blue at the bottom of the teeth is left over from the blue cloud that was carved away to isolate this element.
Stephanie Wood
This glyph for tlantli is unusual for having four teeth in this arrangement. When tlantli is represented as a mouthful of teeth, perhaps imbedded in a tree, then a large number is normal. But here, where they are imbedded in red gums, the usual number in the Codex Mendoza is two teeth, usually two upper central incisors, and sometimes the lower front teeth. The Codex Mexicanus glyph for Tollan has a row of teeth imbedded in gums, however, so as we gain more attestations from other manuscripts, it will be interesting to compare.
Stephanie Wood
c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest
Stephanie Wood
tooth, teeth, places, locatives
tlan(tli), teeth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli
-tlan, by, near, among, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan
teeth or place
Stephanie Wood
Codex Mendoza, folio 15 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 31 of 188.
The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).
