Xolo (Verg49v)

Xolo (Verg49v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Xolo (“Servant” or “Enslaved Person”), attested as a man’s name. The compound has three parts. I might start with the leg and foot, a phonetic syllable and the start of this name, Xo-. Above that is the partial rubber ball (olli), which supplies another phonetic syllable, -ol-, which is the middle part of the name, overlapping slightly with the Xo-. Finally, moving to the left is the sign for road (otli), the phonetic syllable -o-, which comes at the end of the name.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This fully phonographic name is not at all unusual for the Codex Vergara. But dog heads are more commonly found to represent xolo or xolotl in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco. The Codex Mendoza, however, shows xolotl to be a divine force with dog characteristics and xolo to be a servant who would wear a certain type of shirt. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

mth. xollo.

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Mateo Xolo

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Vergara, Codex (Verg)

Date of Manuscript:

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories:

personal name

phonetic dimensions

Syntax:

noun(s)

syllable: xo (from foot-related)

Writing Features:

compound fully phonographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Rubber

Transportation, Travel, Roads

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

bird's eye view

facing right

profile view

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

upward

right to left

Keywords:

hule, camino, caminos, huella, huellas, pierna, pie, pies, piernas, anatomía, nombres de hombres, men’s names, fonetismo

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xolo, servant, enslaved person, also penis, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/Xolotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

probablemente, Serviente o Persona Esclavizada

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 49v, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f106.item.zoom, accessed 25 March 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543. “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Image Source, Rights:

Image Rights: The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/

Orthography:

"ll" for l

"th" for t, d, or gd

intrusive period

Historical Contextualizing Image: