maitl (Mdz10v)

maitl (Mdz10v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for hand/arm (maitl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Oztoman. It is an upright right hand. No arm is visible in this case. The hand is terracotta colored, with the exception of the fingernails, which are white.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

According to Gordon Whittaker, we should pay attention to the upright hand without an arm attached versus the more horizontal or diagonal arm, which can have readings other than maitl), such as the "ma" of capture, "ana" of grab, or "poloa" of destroy. (Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 104)

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: 
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: 

hands, arms

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

mai(tl), hand or arm, and a measurement, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maitl
ma(tl), hand or arm, and a measurement, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

hand or arm

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 10 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 31 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: 

Oztoman (Mdz10v)