Tollan (Mdz8r)

This simplex glyph stands for the place name Tollan, represented simply by rushes (tolin). The white component at the base of the tules is reminiscent of the base of feathers, when grouped, as we see in the various groups of colored feathers in the Codex Mendoza on folio 47 recto. The -tlan (locative suffix) of the place name Tollan is not expressed visually unless the white base of the reeds suggests teeth (tlantli). As with other stems ending in "l," in this case tol-, when the locative suffix -tlan is added, the middle "t" drops out of the combination of tol + tlan, creating tollan, "near the rushes." Gordon Whittaker refers to Tollan as a place name that was the equivalent of "the centre of the universe," and was probably the name for Teotihuacan, an earlier name for Tenochtitlan, Xicocotitlan (Tula today), and Cholollan (Cholula today). (Source: Whittaker, "The Study of North American Place Signs," Indiana 13 (1993), 9–38.)