cualo (Mdz34r)

cualo (Mdz34r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for the passive verb cualo (eaten) comes from the place name glyph, Tecualoyan. The element shows a profile view (facing right) of a wild cat (tecuani) eating a man. The top half of the man's body is inside the animal, and only the rear end and legs are visible. We know it is a man because part of the (white) loincloth is visible.

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

Syntax: 
verb
passive tense
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Body postures
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Colors: 
black
orange/terracotta
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
spotted or mottled
Keywords: 

comer, comido, jaguares, tecuanes, personas, hombres, verbos

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

cua, to eat or to bite, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cua
-lo, passive indicator, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/lo-0
tecuani, ferocious wild animal, literally one that bites people, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecuani

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Comido

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 34 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 78 of 188.

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)