Totec (MH507r)

Totec (MH507r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Totec shows a man's head in profile, looking to the viewer's left. On his head he seems to wear a laurel wreath or a string of flowers. His head it tilted somewhat downward. His visible eye is open.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The name starts with "To-" which might be the first person plural "Our," followed by "Tec," short for Tecuhtli (Lord). So, the name might translate "Our Lord." If the man in this glyph is wearing a laurel wreath on his head, this would represent a significant influence from European artistic traditions. See Ovid wearing one, for example, in Wikipedia.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

matheo
totec

Gloss Normalization: 

Mateo Totec

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
title/office
Syntax: 
noun(s)
possessive pronoun
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Politics, Power, Governance
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
profile view
facing left
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

posesivos, possessives, nombres de hombres

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

to-, our, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/node/175783
tecuh(tli), lord, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecuhtli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Nuestro Señor

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 507r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=93&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: