Yaocihuatl (MH546r)

Yaocihuatl (MH546r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Yaocihuatl (perhaps “Warrior Woman” or "Combative Woman," attested here as a woman’s name) shows a profile view of the head of a woman, looking toward the viewer's right. Below her is a frontal view of a war shield with a mesh pattern. The scalloping around the edges of the shield suggest a turtle (ayotl) shell.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Ayotl is a near homophone for yaotl, which means this turtle shell is a phonetic complement. Women's names are rare in this tribute list, given that married women contributed to the household tribute, which is recorded under the husband's name. Only widows (often simply called "old women") are recorded separately for their tribute payments.

Here is another man's name that relates to women. See some additional examples below. With regard to female combatants, while warriors in Nahua culture were usually men, women could participate in some war-related activities. Achichina was a legendary rebellion leader shortly after the Spanish invasion of Mexico. Malintzin carries a shield and sword in some scenes of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala. Women bared their bottoms and threw breast milk at the enemy in the history written and painted by Diego Durán.

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juana yaocivatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juana Yaocihuatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
Syntax: 
Writing Features: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

wars, guerras, enemy, enemigos, women, mujeres, guerreras, mujeres combatientes

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Guerrera, o Mujer Combatiente

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 
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).

Orthography: 
Historical Contextualizing Image: