tzinacantli (Mdz15v)

tzinacantli (Mdz15v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for a bat (tzinacantli) also doubles as the glyph for the place name Tzinacantlan. The bat is standing with its wings open and its mouth open (with teeth visible), facing to the viewer's left, in semi-profile. It has two small ears visible and a turned up nose.

Description, 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

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Mouth/Beak Open
Names (places)
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
purple
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
Keywords: 

Zinacantlan, Zinacantan

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

tzinacan(tli), bat, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzinacantli

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 15 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 41 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: 

tzinacantli (Mdz10r)