Tzihuacxoch (MH492r)

Tzihuacxoch (MH492r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tzihuacxoch (attested here as a female) has two prominent features. At the bottom is a tree (cuahuitl) with branches cut off, which provides the phonetic dimension of tzihuactli, a small agave with a spiny floral stalk. Above that is an upright flower (xochitl). The lower plant has been cut in the shape of the trunk that has some branches cut off. It appears to have bark or some texturing on the exterior. The flower has a tripartite petal arrangement at the top and two protruding pistils or stamens.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The two-part plant name is thus something like "Agave Flower." Flowers can vary considerably within a manuscript and, of course, across manuscripts. See the image of the tzihuactli plant in Book 11 of the Florentine Codex, which shows a significant stalk and flowers at the top.

A metaphorical use of tzihuactli is found in the huehuetlatolli (“elders’ wisdom; words of the elders”) compiled under the leadership of Fray Andrés de Olmos. In the published version’s glossary, an editor’s note tells us that “in the original Nahuatl, tzihuactli, teteihuitl, is a diphrasism that refers to two objects [used in] sacrificial rites.”

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

maria tzivacxoch

Gloss Normalization:

María Tzihuacxoch

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:

phonetic dimensions

Syntax:

hua or cua (from cuahuitl)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Flowers

Gender (female)

Gifts, Offerings, Sacrifice

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Plants, Flora

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

vertical, upright

tripartite

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

upward

Keywords:

cactus, cactos, magueyes, flores

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tzihuac(tli), a small agave with a spiny flower stalk, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzihuactli
xoch(itl), flower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Flor de Maguey

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 492r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=63&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 .0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: