tolin (Mdz30r)

tolin (Mdz30r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for tules, reeds, or rushes (tolin) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tollantzinco. As depicted here, the tules have yellow tips and pairs of yellow protrusions (flowers?) near the tips. They are colored a two-tone green. The base of the reeds is white, looking something like teeth which, if meant phonetically, could contribute the "lan" syllable (from tlantli).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Tules were used for baskets, mats, seats, footwear, and fans for the fire, so they were crucial for everyday life.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
green (dark)
green (light)
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiky
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

tolli, tollin, tolin, reeds, sedges, bulrushes, tules, tullin, tuli

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

tol(in), reeds, rushes, or tules, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tollin

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

tule reeds

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 30 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 70 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).

See Also: 

Tollantzinco (Mdz30r)