Totonametl (MH525r)

We know from the Florentine Codex that the sun was called the Resplendent One and the Prince of Turquoise. (See the link to the Online Nahuatl Dictionary.) The bird does not have a semantic value; it serves to provide a phonetic indicator for the start of the name ("Toto-"). The longer "Totona-" start to the name reduplicates the verb tona, for the sun to shine and give warmth. The (-metl) ending of the name, not shown visually, comes from the noun tonametl, sun ray. The multiple rays around the bird's head provide a visual reduplication that supports the (totona) element and give additional visual movement to the compound. See some glyphs below that provide a similar shimmer, one that replaced the four small circles around the perimeter of larger circles for the sun, gems, mirrors, etc. See the "Shimmering Glyphs" article in the navigation bar on the left of this web page.