Xocoyol (MH609r)
This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Xocoyol ("Sorrel") is attested here as a man's name. It shows a plant with three principal flowers and two additional stalks with buds or small flowers. The plant is leaning toward the viewer's right.
Stephanie Wood
The flowers have a bell (coyolli) shape, which may have influenced their name. Sorrel (xocoyolli), whether used as an herb or a vegetable, has a sour, lemony taste. Thus, perhaps the term xococ (sour) fed into the name, too ("sour bells").
According to ethnobotanist Richard Tan, xocoyoles (as the term has been Hispanized) are "a large class of plants with a characteristic sourness, used to flavor dishes," although they can also be enjoyed by just munching on the leaves when one is out in the field. He says they are also referred to in Spanish as "agritos," because of their sour taste. He adds that "Many Begonia species are xocoyoles, but many edible Oxalis species are, too." (Personal communication 9 March 2022.)
Stephanie Wood
1560
Jeff Haskett-Wood
sorrel, xocoyoles, plantas
xocoyol(li), sorrel, an herb, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xocoyolli
coyol(li), a small bell, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coyolli
xococ, something sour, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xococ
La Azedera, o La Alazana
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 609r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=300st=image.
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).
