Xalticpac (CQ)

Xalticpac (CQ)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Xalticpac ("On Top of the Sand") has two main features. One is a group of black dots signifying grains of sand (xalli). This sand is in a rectangle, which helps it appear to be on the ground, creating a bird's eye view. Perhaps this is the tlacuilo's method for conveying the locative -ticpac (above, over, on top of).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The rectangle may also refer to a particular parcel of land, such as a tlalli or a milli. Many such rectangles in the Codex Quetzalecatzin, in fact, have glosses suggesting that they were called milli, and some of them were owned by particular elite members of the community. Representations of sand in the Codex Mendoza can be round, although sometimes the sand fills a particular shape of water or a gully. The dotted texturing is something both codices have in common, although, again, the Codex Mendoza will sometimes mix in some larger pieces of sand or stone. (See below.) Ofelia Cruz Morales suggests "adentro del la arena" ("inside the sand") as a translation, and this could be supported by the placement of the sand in this glyph in the middle of the parcel. In other words, the placement of the sand, which does not fill the rectangle, may have a semantic significance.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Xalticpac

Gloss Normalization: 

Xalticpac

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Quetzalecatzin, Codex (CQ)
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
preposition
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Dirt, Sand, Soil
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
boxed in
dotted, granular, textured
bird's eye view
rectangular
right angle(s)
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
inherent/internal/merged
Reading Order, Notes: 

The shape and placement of the sand inside the rectangle (instead of filling it completely) made be significant. It is a method that diverges from other representations of sand in this database.

Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Keywords: 

place, lugar, name, nombre, land, la tierra, sand, la arenilla, la arena

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

xal(li), sand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalli
-ticpac (locative suffix), above, over, on top of, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ticpac

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

Xalticpac “On Top of the Sand.” Matthew T. McDavitt, “Placenames in the Codex Quetzalecatzin,” unpublished essay shared 2-21-2018.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Sobre de la Arena, o Adentro de la Arena

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Ofelia Cruz Morales

Image Source: 

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, aka Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec, Codex Ehecatepec-Huitziltepec, or Charles Ratton Codex. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017590521/

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress, current custodian of this pictorial Mexican manuscript, hosts a digital version online. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

xalli (CQ)

xalli (Mdz17v)

xalli (Mdz40r)