Xiuhtepec (Mdz23r)

Xiuhtepec (Mdz23r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Xiuhtepec features a turquoise stone (xihuitl) atop a green mountain or hill (tepetl). The stone has four small turquoise circles on its perimeter; if connected the lines would for an X. Inside the stone is a concentric circle, and inside that are some divisions; two small upright leaf shapes are bright red. The hill is a two-tone green with rocky outcroppings on the sides (providing the phonetic reinforcement (te- from tetl, stone) for the start of the word tepetl. At the bottom of the hill are the horizontal red and yellow stripes that would be the side of a natural spring. The locative suffix (-c) (as given in the gloss) is not shown visually, but it combines with -tepe- to form -tepec, a visual locative suffix meaning "on the hill" or "on the mountain."

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Elsewhere, we discuss the four small circles that appear on the sign for ilhuitl, tezcatl, etc., suggesting a shimmer or vibrance.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

xiuhtepec. puo

Gloss Normalization: 

Xiuhtepec, 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: 
place name
Syntax: 
locative (visual not silent)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Color names
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Turquoise or Jade
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
green (dark)
green (light)
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
shimmer, vibrance, shine with warmth & movement
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

hills, mountains

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

-tepec, on the hill or mountain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepec 

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 23 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 56 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).