Yaoxochitl (MH515r)

Yaoxochitl (MH515r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the personal name Yaoxochitl (attested here as a man's name) has three principal elements. On the left is a war (yao-) shield with a bird's eye view of a turtle (ayotl), a phonetic complement] poking out a little bit from underneath the shield. The shield has a diamond, criss-cross pattern contained within a curving line at top and bottom. The other principal element is an upright yellow flower (xochitl) with a tripartite sepal and (at the top) three petals and two pistils or stamens with anthers. The flower also has two red dots toward the bottom of the part that is painted yellow.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This name could mean Combatant-Flower or War-Flower. Combatant is yaotl, whereas warfare is yaoyotl, but the shield can be interpreted either way. Some scholars refer to "flowery wars," so perhaps this name points to that type of warfare. For more on this topic, see, for example, Barry L. Isaac, "The Aztec "Flowery War": A Geopolitical Explanation," Journal of Anthropological Research 39:4(1983), 416–417.

The shape of the shield, which is not fully round and does not have a hanging feathery fringe at the bottom, recalls the crests of European design.

In some flowers, such as this one, the anthers are rather pronounced. The anthers are the flower parts that produce and provide the pollen, which has the reproductive capacity that has been compared in Western cultures to semen.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

dio yaoxochitl

Gloss Normalization: 

Diego Yaoxochitl

Gloss 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
phonetic dimensions
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Flowers
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
Sexuality, Fertility
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood and Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
black & white drawing (no color)
red
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
tripartite
diamond shape(s)
checked, cross-hatched, or mesh
bird's eye view
horizontal
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
left to right
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

nombres de hombres, flowers, flores

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

yao(tl), combatant, enemy, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaotl
yaoyo(tl), war, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaoyotl
xochi(tl), flower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Combatiente-Flor

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 515r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=109&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: