Tlaocol (Verg27r)

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Tlaocol (“Sad” or “Piteous”), attested here as a man’s name. It has three elements. The first one, a phonetic indicator, consists of a pair of front teeth (tlantli), which relays that the name starts with Tla-. Below the teeth is a largely horizontal spray of water (atl), which is a phonetic complement that underlines that this syllable has the “a” vowel. Above the teeth is a black shape, primarily circular, but with a wedge missing from it at the top. This is apparently a rubber ball (olli) with a piece out of it. Rubber could provide the second syllable for the name (-o-) or the final sound (-ol). Perhaps the wedge was taken from the ball to help distinguish it from a black bean (the syllable -e-). Another Tlaocol much like this one appears on folio 28 verso.