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." Beyond that, many insects that are popular as personal or place names are for edible insects, which would not imply an aversion to them.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

antonio
xomil

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Antonio Xomil

Gloss/Text 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: Insects/Bugs
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: 
facing left
profile view
vertical, upright
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)