tzintli (Mdz33r)

tzintli (Mdz33r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Zoquitzinco. In that compound it was a phonogram, but here we are including it as a logogram. It shows the lower half of a body, seated, with knees together and upright. The body is bare, except for the belt of a loincloth, and the feet are bare. Is is semi-horizontal, facing to the viewer's right, and the body is painted a terracotta color.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

As with all—or at least the vast majority—of examples of this glyph, the meaning "buttocks" has nothing to do with the meaning of the glyphs, although it may have a metaphorical value of "lower." When modifying a place name, as Frances Karttunen suggests, the meaning of "tzin" is new, little, or lower. It can also refer to something revered, for instance, when combined with something having the element "teo" (from teotl, divine force).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
locative (visual not silent)
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Religion (Indigenous)
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
facing right
horizontal
profile view
Keywords: 

butts, buttocks, rear end, little, lower, bottom, nalgas, trasero

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

tzin(tli), buttocks, rear end, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzintli
-tzin-, new, little, lower, or reverential, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzin

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

buttocks or reverential

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 33 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 76 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Zoquitzinco (Mdz33r)