Tzicuil (MH642v)

Tzicuil (MH642v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tzicuil ("Thin Boddied," or Cicuil, "Ribs," attested here as a man’s name) shows a frontal view of a human torso from the waist up. The arms are included, and they are bent at the elbow with the hands open and facing the viewer. There is no head. Very prominent on this torso are the ribs, perhaps with an intentional phonetic dimension.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Terms for ribs and becoming thin can start with ci- or tzi- apparently. Regardless of the spelling, a semantic and homophonic relationship seems clear. It is also worth noting that there was a revered Tzicuiltzin that perhaps this person was named after. She was a daughter (and the first child) of Quinatzin. She was also the mother of don Francisco Carlos Xoconochtzin. (See: History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca, 1998, 50.) Her existence is the reason for the choice of Tzicuil here over Cicuil.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

thomas çicuil

Gloss Normalization: 

Tomás Tzicuil

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
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Nudity
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
Keywords: 

costillas, huesos, flaco, cuerpo, nombres de hombres

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

tzicuilihui, to become thin, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzicuilihui
cicuil(li), small body or carcass, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cicuilli
omicicuil(li), rib bones, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/omicicuilli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Costillas (?), o Cuerpo Pequeño

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 641v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=367&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).

Orthography: 
"ç" for z or tz
"th" for t, d, or gd
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Tzicuil (MH555r)

Tzicuil (MH536r)