Tzinacan (MH504v)

Tzinacan (MH504v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for the personal name Tzinacan ("Biting Bat," attested here as a man's name) shows the head of an apparent bat in profile, looking toward the viewer's right. Its eye and mouth are open. The upper lip of the animal has a distinctive upward curl to it.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The nose of a vampire bat does turn up, visibly so when viewed in profile. See other bats, below. Both "tzinacan" and "tzinacantli" appear to be terms that were in use. One is obviously a shortened version of the other, and perhaps it was popularized by the use of the name.

See Miguel Ángel Ruz-Barrio's study of the bat in the book he coedited with Juan José Batalla Rosado, Los códices mesoamericanos (2016). A drawing of this glyph appears on page 201.

This Nahua name is preceded in the gloss by a Christian first name (Toribio). He may have been named after Toribio de Benavente, also known as Motolinia ("One Who is Poor or Afflicted"). This was the first word he learned in Nahuatl, and he went on to learn the language well. He lived in the monastery in Huejotzingo. Doing a quick search for the name "Toribio" will produce an impressive result.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

doribio
tzinnacā

Gloss Normalization: 

Toribio Tzinacan

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
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Christian)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
pointed (see also spiky)
profile view
facing right
Keywords: 

bats, biting bats, murciélagos, vampire bats, nombres de hombres

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

tzinacan, a biting bat, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzinacan
tzinacan(tli), a biting bat, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzinacantli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el murciélago

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 504v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=88&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: 
"d" for t
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tzinacantli (Mdz10r)

tzinacantli (Mdz15v)

tzinacantli (Mdz46r)