Xalacatl (MH643r)

Xalacatl (MH643r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for the personal name Xalacatl ("Sand Flea") shows an insect or bug in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. It has two antennae, an open eye, and two visible legs. It is painted black.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

It might seem surprising for someone to have the name of "Flea," but it could have been a reference to someone's diminutive size.

Sand fleas can be either a crustacean in the family Talitridae or a type of flea known as the Tunga Penetrans. The antennas that appear on this glyph may suggest the crustacean is more likely. See other glyphs for Xalaca and Xalacatl, below.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

anthonio Salacatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Antonio Xalacatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Landscape Features
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Keywords: 

insectos, pulgas, bichos, xalaca, nombres de hombres

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

xalaca(tl), sand flea, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalacatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Pulga de Arena

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 643r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=368&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: 
"s" for x
"th" for t, d, or gd
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Tecpin (MH576v)

xalli (Mdz17v)

Xalaca (MH691r)

Xalacatl (MH678r)