Yaoxochitl (MH485r)

Yaoxochitl (MH485r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black line drawing of a compound glyph for the personal name Yaoxochitl has two main elements. One is a war shield, standing for yaotl (enemy) or yaoyotl (warfare). The other is a flower (xochitl). The shield is rounded on the sides, but has depressions on the perimeter at top and bottom. The shield is divided into four sections with an X-shaped cross. Inside each section is what appears to be a u-shape. The flower is upright and left natural (no coloring). It has a tripartite sepal that would have connected to a stem, some texturing, and perhaps four petals at the top.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Frances Karttunen says that this name means "Enemy Flower" or "War Flower," and it is a type of flower as well as a personal name. Magnus Pharao Hansen adds that this was a name for the marigold. [See his blog from 2014, "Nahuatl Names: The Nahuatl names in the 1544 census of Morelos."]

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juā yaoxochitl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Yaoxochitl

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: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Flowers
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood and Xitlali Torres

Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
cross (x)
quincunx or quatrefoil
tripartite
U-shapes (any direction)
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
upward
Keywords: 

wars, shields, coats of arms, armas, escudos, guerra, flores

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

Yaoxochitl, a type of flower, a name, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaoxochitl
yao(tl), enemy, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaotl
xochi(tl), flower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Flor del Enemigo, Flor de la Guerra

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 485r, World Digital Library.

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: