maitl (Mdz18r)

maitl (Mdz18r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for (maitl) (hand, arm) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name Oztoman. It is a left hand, held upright, with fingers and thumb visible. The arm is not visible.

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
Keywords: 

hands, arms, manos, brazos, fingers, dedos

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

ma(itl), hand or arm, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maitl

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 18 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 46 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: 

Imac Tlacuiya (MH602r)