Tonatiuh (MH579v)

Tonatiuh (MH579v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tonatiuh (“Sun,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a frontal view of a sun with a face, five triangular rays and three straight line rays coming off the central circle.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The stylistics of this sun show some European influence (primarily in the addition of an anthropomorphic face). The earlier glyphs for "sun" (such as can be seen in the Codex Mendoza) did have triangular rays (and additional icongraphy), just not the face. With European influence, both the terms tonatiuh and tonalli began to include human faces. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juā. tonatiuh

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Tonatiuh

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
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Cardinal Directions, Cosmos
Celestial Phenomena
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous Christianity)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
frontal view
pointed (see also spiky)
shimmer, vibrance, shine with warmth & movement
spiky
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

sun, sol, rays, rayos, face, cara, resplandencia, resplendence, shimmer, gleam, shine, rayos, brillar, luminosidad, lustre, fulgor, reluce

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

Photograph by Robert Haskett, Sala Mexica, Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, summer 2005.

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

tonatiuh, the sun, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tonatiuh

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Sol

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 579v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=238&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tonatiuh (Mdz34r)

tonalli (MH559v)

tonalli (MH591v)

tonalli (T1871:1)