Yaopain (MH522r)

Yaopain (MH522r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Yaopain ("Fast-Running Combatant," attested here as a man's name) shows a bird's eye view of a war shield in the guise of a turtle (ayotl), which is a near homophone with yaotl. The turtle shell has a diamond pattern with dots. Yaotl is a common name that means enemy, and it is a near homonym with ayotl. Two black footprints go (apparently running, from "to run fast," (paina)) upward from the shield. The footprints are also shown in a bird's eye view.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The Matrícula de Huexotzinco has many examples of this ayotl-for-yaotl glyph. It has been studied by Lisardo Pérez Lugones in the book El Arte de Escribir (2018).

Also worth noting is how the turtle shell (carapacho in Spanish) served as a percussion instrument. The Museo de Sitio de Tlatelolco (2012, 259) provides an excellent example of one of these turtle-shell drums. This may underline another connection between the turtle and warfare.

Footprint glyphs have a wide range of translations. In this collection, so far, we can attest to yauh, xo, pano, -pan, paina, temo, nemi, quetza, otli, iyaquic hualiloti, huallauh, tepal, tetepotztoca, totoco, otlatoca, -tihui, and the vowel "o." Other research (Herrera et al, 2005, 64) points to additional terms, including: choloa, tlaloa, totoyoa, eco, aci, quiza, maxalihui, centlacxitl, and xocpalli.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

antonio yaopayn

Gloss Normalization: 

Antonio Pain

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
homophony, rebus
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
verb
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diamond shape(s)
dotted, granular, textured
facing upward
bird's eye view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
upward
Keywords: 

shields, escudos, enemies, enemigos, running, corriendo, run fast, correr rápido, tortugas

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

yao(tl), enemy, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaotl
yaoyo(tl), warfare, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaoyotl
paina, to run fast, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/paina

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 522r, World Digital Library.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=123&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: 

Pain (MH519r)

Pain (MH591v)

Yaotl (MH502r)

Yaotl (MH514r)