Yaoteuh (MH797r)

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Yaoteuh (“Combatant-Dust”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a war shield, black in the middle, with a white border, and four curving points. While a shield might be called a chimalli, it is often used as a sign in the Matrícular de Huexotzinco as a symbol for a combatant (yao-). Behind the shield is a group of dots, which seem to represent dust (teuhtli). They come up from behind and bend to the right, almost like smoke. But, if the teuhtli is not literal, the -teuh suffix could alternately serve as a phonetic indicator for “as, like, similar to.” In other words, the name could mean, perhaps, “Warlike.” Other examples of terms that end with -teuh can be found below.