Xochitonal (MH673r)

Xochitonal (MH673r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Xochitonal (perhaps “Flower-Day,” “Flower Sun,” or a mythical iguana figure of Mictlan) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a frontal view of a flower with four large petals, separators, and a circle in the center, which makes it something of a quincunx. Surrounding this flower are numerous short lines like sun rays, coming out from the flower all the way around.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Numerous examples of Xochitonal are included in this digital collection in the hope that an aggregation of the variations will help identify nuances in how the concept was conceived. The flowers vary considerably; this one here is reminiscent of the matlalin (see the flower in Matlalihuitl, MH518v). Sometimes a sun is clearly indicated, and sometimes just the rays or shimmer of the sun (summer heat?). Sometimes these recall the spikes coming off an iguana, which would tie-in with the mythical figure of Mictlan that was named Xochitonal. If the mythical figure is the target of the glyph, then it could be considered fully phonographic.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

phonetic possibilities

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Celestial Phenomena

Flowers

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiky

quincunx or quatrefoil

frontal view

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

outward (from inside out)

Keywords:

iguanas, soles, días, verano, calor, quincunces, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Xochitonal, a personal name and the name of a mythical creature (a lizard) in Mictlan, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochitonal
xochi(tl), flower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochitl
tonal(li), life force, sun, day, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tonalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, Flor-Día, o Flor-Sol

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 673r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=426&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).

Orthography:

"s" for x

Historical Contextualizing Image: