Xochitlatoa (MH674r)

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Xochitlatoa (“He Speaks in Flowers”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph builds on the face of the tribute payer himself, with a short line connecting to a beautifully drawn and detailed flower with five visible petals, a tripartite base, and a short stem. Some shading at the base of the petals, gives the flower a three-dimensionality. The location of the flower (xochitl) shares its positioning with what might be speech scrolls if the flower were not there, as though he is speaking (tlatoa) in a flowery way (xochitlatoa, or xohitlahtoa, with the glottal stop).