xalmoyotl (FCbk11f109r)

xalmoyotl (FCbk11f109r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, almost a compound glyph, consists of two elements, a profile view of a group of coastal mosquitos or biting sand flies (xalmoyotl) in the air, facing left, and surrounded by sand.The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This sand (xalli) in the air has no logic other than to explain that these insects are found on sandy beaches, which almost makes this a compound glyph or perhaps a late expression of that earlier writing system. The contextualizing image shows that this pairing of elements has been placed in a landscape setting, which shows European artistic influence.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This is the first record for xalmoyotl to enter this digital collection (as of November 2025), but there are a number of records of the simple moyotl (which can look like a mosquito or a fly, although the fly is called a zayolin). Some have a straight proboscis (for penetrating the skin) and some have a curled one. Moyotl is a personal name. See a few examples below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

xalmoiotl

Gloss/Text Normalization:

xalmoyotl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals: Insects & Bugs

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

bird's eye view

dotted, granular, textured

facing left

profile view

Keywords:

mosquitos, insectos, volando

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xalmoyo(tl), a coastal mosquito, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalmoyotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el mosquito o la mosca de la arena, de la playa

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 11: Earthly Things", fol. 109r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/109r/images/0 Accessed 16 October 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: