Xochiteotl (MH500r)

Xochiteotl (MH500r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Xochiteotl (perhaps "Flower Divinity") is attested here as a man’s name. It shows an upright flower (xochitl) with a stem, base, and three petals. Coming up from behind the flower is a hairless head with two eyes and perhaps a nose showing. This anthropomorphic figure seems to point to the second part of the name, teotl, which can be a divine force or deity.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

One of the Matrícula de Huexotzinco glyphs in this collection, the one representing Teoxoch (MH524v), also has a face, and in that case, it is on the flower, not peeking out from behind it. See below. The glyph for Achiteotl also has a head and a face. These are interesting glyphs for those seeking to probe the meanings of teotl and their evolution in a Christian colonial context. Another compound for the name Teoxoch (also a woman's name) uses a stone to bring forth the Teo- syllable. A compound for Xochiteotl (there, a man's name) uses that same economy, in both cases avoiding any visual depiction of teotl. The use of a face here to represent divinity seems to show European influence.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

fran^co
xochiteotl

Gloss Normalization:

Francisco Xochiteotl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

deity name/theonym

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Flowers

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Plants, Flora

Religion (Indigenous Christianity)

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

vertical, upright

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

upward

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

flowers, flores, deidades, deities, divinidades, divinities, caras, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xochi(tl), flower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochitl
teo(tl), deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teotl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Flower-Deity" or "Sacred Flower" [H.B. Nicholson, in Mesoamerican Writing Systems, ed. Elizabeth P. Benson (1973), 28.]

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, Flor Divinidad

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 500r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=79&st=image

Image Source, Rights:

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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: