tlantli (Mdz40r)

tlantli (Mdz40r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This glyphic element for tlantli (teeth) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Amacoztitlan. 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.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In the place name where this element appears, the teeth play a phonetic role and do not really intend a reading of "teeth."

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Keywords: 

place, locative, teeth

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

teeth or place

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

los dientes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 15 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 90 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

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).