Xomil (MH500r)

Xomil (MH500r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Xomil (here, attested as a man's name) shows two upright legs, one behind the other, and the front one turned slightly to the viewer's left. One foot (xo-) is especially visible, although small, compared to the legs. There is nothing obvious in this glyph to point to -mil component of the name. The contextualizing image for the person named Xomil shows an axe, which is an indicator of his occupation, probably as a woodcutter.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Apparently, the suggestion of a foot (xo-) is meant to call to mind the name Xomil, which refers to an edible insect. It is somewhat surprising that no effort was made to draw a milli (an agricultural field), which could have provided a visual for the second syllable.

An association between babies and bugs is not unusual across cultures. There is an entire Reddit discussion about nicknames like "Bug," "Bugg," and "Cockroach." (See: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisisus/comments/9u1lqu/i_love_you_bug/.) Beyond that, many insects that are popular as personal or place names are for edible insects, which would not suggest any aversion to them.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

antonio
xomil

Gloss Normalization: 

Antonio Xomil

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Body postures
Food, Eating, Cooking
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
vertical, upright
profile view
facing left
Keywords: 

insects, insectos, comestibles, edible, nombres de hombres

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

xomil, a type of edible insect, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xomil
xo, foot, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xo
mil(li), agricultural parcel, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/milli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Jumil

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 500r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=79&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Xaltocan (Mdz17v)

chapolin (Mdz32r)

Chapol (MH519r)

azcatl (Mdz5v)