Tzocuil (MH594r)

Tzocuil (MH594r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the person name Tzocuil (Awkward Footed Bird) is attested here as a man's name. The tzocuil is a goldfinch, but it seems to be a nickname for the giants called tzocuilicxileque (icxi-= feet, e = three, -queh, plural), the three goldfinch-footed ones who were believed to have lived in primordial times.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The term varies in spelling across the sources that include this myth, but the reference to the bird has to do with the bird’s awkward feet, and how the giants were believed to have “deformed extremities.” [See: Jaime Echeverría García, “De monstruos y fenomenos naturales,” Relaciones, https://www.redalyc.org/journal/137/13756646011/html/.] The number of toes (three and four) is unusual, but possibly intentional.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

pedro tzocvil

Gloss Normalization: 

Pedro Tzocuil

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: 
cuil (tracking)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
profile view
facing left
Keywords: 

feet, pies, three, tres, birds, pájaros, goldfinches, jilgueros, nombres de hombres

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

tzocuil, goldfinch, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzocuil
icxi(tl), foot, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/icxitl
eyi, three, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/eyi

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Jilguero

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 594r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=267&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: 

xo (Mdz2r)

tlanitztli (Mdz15v)

Tlacza (MH594v)

Xocpal (MH564r)

Nacxitl (MH564v)