tlantli (Mdz26r)

tlantli (Mdz26r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This glyphic element for (tlantli) (teeth) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Cuauhtitlan. In that compound it was a phonogram, but here we are including it as a logogram. It shows two, white, front teeth (tlantli) surrounded by red gums. Pairs of short vertical black lines show grooves in the central incisors.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Gordon Whittaker (Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 102) has discovered that the full set of teeth (top and bottom) are used, as in Cuauhtitlan, when there is a ligature (-ti-) before the locative suffix -tlan.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
ligature -ti- (visual)
locative (visual not silent)
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
white/neutral
Keywords: 

teeth, locative suffix, by, among, place, locative,

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

tlan(tli), teeth, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlantli
-tlan, by, near, among, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el diente, los dientes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 26 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 64 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Cuauhtitlan (Mdz26r)