Xallan (Mdz40r)

Xallan (Mdz40r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Xallan (perhaps "Near the Sand") features sand (xalli) as black dots and small circles inside of a bigger circle. Presumably, this is a bird's eye view of a sandy ground. The two, white, front teeth (tlantli) with red gums, in a frontal view, provide the phonetic value for the locative suffix (-tlan), by or next to.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The bird's eye view of the sandy place is reminiscent of the way market places are shown in the Codex Mendoza. Markets can also have a sandy ground in the center. See below for two examples. Also, go to the Advanced Search, shapes category, and click bird's eye view for additional examples. Land parcels are often seen from above, as are soil types.

When the final "l" of the stem "xal-" meets the starting "tl-" of the locative -tlan, the "t" drops away and the double "l" remains. We have retained the final "n" of -tlan, even though the gloss does not show the place name ending in "n."

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

xala.puo

Gloss Normalization: 

Xallan, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
phonetic dimensions
place name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Dirt, Sand, Soil
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
red
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
dotted, granular, textured
frontal view
bird's eye view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
back to front
Keywords: 

arena, dientes

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

xal(li), sand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalli
tlan(tli), tooth/teeth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli
-tlan (locative suffix), by, among, next to, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Arenal

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 40 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 90 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: 

xalli (Mdz40r)

tlantli (Mdz38r)

tianquiztli (Mdz16v)

tianquiztli (Mdz58r)