Xolotlan (Mdz13v)

Xolotlan (Mdz13v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph, which stands for the place name Xolotlan as well as the ancestor-ruler and/or deity Xolotl, is a multicolored, anthropomorphized dog's head. The figure is shown in profile, looking to the viewer's left. The yellow hair on the head appears in two tufts. An elaborate earring or ear plug hangs down below the ear. The showing of the teeth may just be a feature of the dog that the artist wished to emphasize, but the teeth could also double as the phonetic indicator for the locative suffix -tlan.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The dog called xoloitzcuintli has pronounced wrinkles on its face much like this glyph has (see below). Wrinkles could also have a semantic relationship with the age of the ancestor. And the adjective for wrinkled is xolochtic. This representation of Xolotl is somewhat more elaborate than the one on folio 51 recto, which has fewer colors and details.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

xolotlan. puo

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
locative (visual but silent)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Hair (human or animal)
Names (places)
Politics, Power, Governance
Religion (Indigenous)
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Colors: 
black
blue (turquoise)
orange/terracotta
purple
red
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
SVG of Glyph: 
Keywords: 

deities, dogs, deidades, perros, jewelry, joyas, adornments, adornos, wrinkled, arrugado

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

Flickr hosts this photo of a xoloitzcuintli, marked by Google as having Creative Commons rights.

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

Xolotl, deity or ancestor-ruler, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xolotl
-tlan (locative suffix), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan
xoloitzcuin(tli), a native Mexican (almost) hairless dog, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xoloitzcuintli
xolochtic, wrinkled, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xolochtic

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Xolotl, el gobernante-ancestro chichimeca

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 13 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 37 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Xolotl (Mdz51r)