Tenayocan (Mdz2r)

Tenayocan (Mdz2r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Tenayocan has two principal features. One is a wall or rampart (tenamitl) painted turquoise blue. Typical of this type of wall, it has upper parts that are reminiscent of crenelation, with stepped rectangular shapes. The main part of the wall is a horizontal piece decorated with row of four small, concentric circles. The other dominant feature of this glyph is a mountain that is a typical bell shape, painted two-tone green (lighter toward the exterior), with curly rocky outcroppings also on the exterior, and a horizontal yellow and red stripe at the base of the mountain. The suffix -yo- (giving a noun that inherent characteristic) and the suffix -can (a locative, saying where) are not shown visually.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The -yo- suggests that this is a place characterized by walls, hence the interpretation of Berdan and Anawalt that the town is "full of walls."

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

tenayucan.pueblo/

Gloss Normalization: 

Tenayocan, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Keywords: 

hills, mountains, cerros, montañas, walls, ramparts, paredes, murallas, almenas

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

tenami(tl), wall(s), rampart(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tenamitl
-yo(tl)-, having that characteristic or quality/inalienable possession, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yotl
-can (locative suffix), where, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/can-2

Karttunen’s Interpretation: 

"Place Full of Walls" (apparently agreeing with Berdan and Anawalt) [Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission.]

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

"Place Full of Walls" (Berdan and Anawalt, 1992, vol. 1, p. 208)

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

"Donde Hay Muchas Murallas" o "Donde Hay Muchos Paredes"

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 
Image Source, Rights: 

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)