Tzapin (MH879r)

Tzapin (MH879r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tzapin (perhaps “He Pricked” or “He Pierced”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a man’s face and arm in profile, facing the viewer’s right. He holds a long stick or piercing instrument. If this is not a truncated verb, it may be a noun that refers to a thorn or spine.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Thorns have a significant place in Nahua culture. Thorns were used for bloodletting, a self-sacrificial act. Huitztli was the usual term for the relevant thorns. There was even a thorn decorated with the precious green stone (jade or jadeite). See below.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juo. tzapin

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Tzapin

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
verb
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Gifts, Offerings, Sacrifice
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
facing right
profile view
Keywords: 

perforar, pinchar, punzar, punzarse, espinarse, nombres de hombres

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

tzapinia, to prick, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzapinia
pintic, something small and pointed, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/pintic

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Él Pinchó, o Él Perforó

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 879r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=830&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: 

Tzapin (MH496r)

Tzapin (MH498r)

Tzapinco (MH571r)

chalchihuitztli (TR9v)