Tlilpotonqui (MH518r)

Tlilpotonqui (MH518r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name, title, or label, Tlilpotonqui (“Stinky-Sticky Black Feather Ritual Device,” attested here as a man’s name), features two, parallel, upright objects, both heavily colored black (tlilli). They may have some kind of wooden base and be covered with a sticky and apparently stinky(potonqui) substance (rubber?) and then black feathers.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Tlilpotonqui has multiple possible translations. It could refer to a child born outside of marriage. It was also a priestly name that some say refers to black dust or a black stinky substance, apparently involving an adornment (perhaps a staff) that was glued with black feathers. See below for other examples. The name was held by some illustrious figures, including Quetzalcoatl and Miguel Tlilpotonqui, son of Tlacaelel and grandson of Huitzilihuitl. See the Online Nahuatl Dictionary for more information.

Magnus Pharao Hansen wrote this when trying to translate Tlilpotonqui (which he found in the Morelos census of 1544): "'he stinks black'?". [See his blog at: http://nahuatlstudies.blogspot.com/2014/11/nahuatl-names-nahuatl-names-i... That translation could work literally, but the ritual dimension seems important for clarifying that the reference is probably not to bodily odor.

See also the Yauhpotonqui glyph, below. This suggests a possible connection to incense offerings.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

antonio tlilpotonq~

Gloss Normalization:

Antonio Tlilpotonqui

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Color names

Health, Medicine

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Writing, Literacy

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing left

profile view

vertical, upright

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

inherent/internal/merged

Keywords:

black, negro, plumas, rituales, regalia

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tlilpotonqui, a personal name, a title, a priest who wore a feather adornment, or a rare bean, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlilpotonqui
tlil(li), black color, soot, ink,, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlilli
potonqui, dusty or stinky, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/potonqui
potoni, dust, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/potonqui

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

(objeto ritual de plumas negras apestosas)

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Manuel Orozco y Berra, Historia antigua y de la conquista de México (1960, 403).

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 518r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=115&st=image

Image Source, Rights:

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Orthography:

"g" for c, q, or x

Historical Contextualizing Image: