Xalteman (MH544r)
This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Xalteman (perhaps, “Like Sandstone,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a cluster of grains of sand (xalli) and some stones (tetl). A hand (maitl) holds a black (obsidian?) stone tool, possibly for grinding or smashing the small round stones.
Stephanie Wood
The construction of the word of the gloss might suggest xal ("sand") + tema (the verb, "to fill up"). But the term "tlaxaltema" (see the Online Nahuatl Dictionary) is a verb meaning to place something on the sand. Perhaps that is what we are seeing in this glyph. But it might also be interpreted as someone smashing small stones in the sand. Perhaps what is in the hand is a temalacatl, a stone grinding tool. Finally, there are other glyphs for names Xalte and Xaltetl (see below), and the addition of -man to the end of Xalte, producing Xalteman ("In the Manner of Sandstone"), could be what is indicated here.
As the analysis of the gloss indicates, we are adding an "n" at the end of the name, but it is not clear if this is correct, given the existence of the verb tlaxaltema and the failure of a search to find a name Xaltema in other sources. So, we will remain vigilant if other names like Xaltema appear as research continues.
Stephanie Wood
juā saltema
Juan Xalteman
Stephanie Wood
1560
Jeff Haskett-Wood
piedras, arena, quebrar, moler, xaltema, arenisca
![](https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/XaltemaMH544rCmpndPersName.png?itok=yUs-TIys)
xal(li), sand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalli
tema, to fill up, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tema
temalaca(tl), stone grinding tool, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/temalacatl
tlaxaltema, to place something on sand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlaxaltema
-man(i), in the manner of, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mani-1
A Manera de Arenisca (?)
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 544r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=167&st=image
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).
![](https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/sites/default/files/XaltemaMH544rContext.png)