Tlilpotonqui (MH876v)
This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name or title, Tlilpotonqui (a"Stinky-Sticky Black Feather Ritual Device," attested here as a man's name), features a round black (tlilli) object with perhaps a swirl inside or an eye. Perhaps it is a ball of rubber, which could be considered a stinky potonqui and sticky substance, possibly what was used for attaching feathers to a priest's ritual device. Short black lines radiate from the ball, perhaps they are feathers. Alternatively, the short lines could be a visual representation of the odor or shine/vibrance.
Stephanie Wood
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.) That translation could work literally, but the ritual dimension seems important for clarifying that the reference is probably not to bodily odor. Tlilpotonqui was 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. Tlilpotonqui could also refer to a child born outside of marriage. See the Online Nahuatl Dictionary for more information.
Other glyphs for Tlilpotonqui in this collection are often circular, some with swirls, some with dots, some with short lines emanating off the circle. Some seem to be shortcuts, such as simply a black rubber ball or just a black circle naming the color black. Two look like the twisted grasses of malinalli.
Stephanie Wood
matheo tlilpotonqui
Mateo Tlilpotonqui
Stephanie Wood
1560
Jeff Haskett-Wood
black, color negro, feathers, plumas, religión indígena, nombres de hombres
tlilpotonqui, a personal name, a title, a priest who wore a feather adornment, or a rare bean, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlilpotonqui
(objeto ritual de plumas negras apestosas)
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 876v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=825&st=image.
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).
