Yecatl (TK206v)

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the personal name Yecatl, sometimes also spelled Ecatl and Ehecatl, attested as a man’s name. Regardless of the spelling, it likely refers to the divine force of the wind Ehecatl. The compound has three elements, and the reading is multidirectional. It could start with the bean (etl) in the middle, which supplies the phonetic syllable -e- as a starting point. Dots swirl upwards from the bean in the shape of a fountain of water, but this apparently represents moving air or wind (ehecatl). Finally, the lowest element is the lower part (tzintli) of a man’s body, which usually indicates the phonetic syllable -tzin. Given that this is not only a person’s name but it is shared with a sacred force, the -tzin is likely meant as a reverential suffix. The gloss does not include the -tzin, but perhaps it should have.