Tlatelolco (Mdz19r)

This glyph captures the essence of the place name by showing a hillock or mound of earth (tlatelli). The locative suffix -co is not shown, unless it is imbedded in the base at the bottom of the mound. Given the presence of a base, this mound could be a visual reference to what we might call a pyramid, a constructed mound, which would have had a religious use and significance. The internal element, -ol- has not yet been analyzed; if it is not represented visually, we may need to reclassify this glyph as a compound. The presence of the sand (xalli), shown here as dotted, which makes up the hillock, may substantiate Rémi Siméon's suggestion that Xaltilolco was the original name for the city. See: Tetlacuilolli. Interestingly, the glyph for Tlatelolco in the Codex Telleriano-Rememsis, folio 33 verso, takes the shape of a tepetl), but it is also colored purple. The texturing here, in lieu of dots for sand, are "u" shapes that are reminiscent of the texturing of tlal(li). See: Gordon Whittaker, Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs (2021), 25, figure 1.8.b.