tonalli (MH487v)

tonalli (MH487v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the element tonalli (sun, day, and a personal solar animating force) has been extracted from the compound personal name Atonal. This version of tonalli does appear to be a sun. It has a face (in frontal view) and it has radiating lines around the perimeter, taking a circular shape.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In other glyphs, the radiating lines have also been associated with tonalli, pointing to radiance, resplendence, etc. Putting a face on the sun seems like it may derive from European influence. Teotl (divinity) glyphs from the Matrícula de Huexotzinco often have faces, which may come into play here, too, and suggest another form of European influence.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
Syntax: 
noun(s)
visible movement
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Celestial Phenomena
Movement
Religion (Indigenous Christianity)
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
shimmer, vibrance, shine with warmth & movement
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

brillar, resplandor, soles, caras

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

tonal(li), day; the sun; heat, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tonalli

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 487r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=53&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).

See Also: 

Atonal (MH487v)

Totonametl (MH525r)

Xochitonal (MH568r)

Teoxoch (MH524v)

Xochiteotl (MH500r)

Atonal (MH626v)