cozohuipilli (Mdz13r)

cozohuipilli (Mdz13r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph is really rather complex, standing for the place name Cozohuipilecan, for cozotl) (yellow parrot), huipilli (blouse or tunic), and, here, cozohuipilli (yellow parrot [feather] garment. We would consider it a compound glyph for all these morphemes, but the visual is a simplex, fusing multiple elements together. They would be difficult to atomize. The garment is primarily yellow. The neck line has red trim. The texturing of the feathers much less pronounced on the upper part of this tunic as compared to the other cozohuipilli in the collection. Below the horizontal waistband are some longer parrot feathers hanging down over what would be the lower body and upper thighs.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The yellow parrot feather tunic would appear to have been a male warrior garment if we look to the section of the Codex Mendoza where the tributes in warrior costumes appear (folio 36 recto and forward). Thus, the term huipilli is not necessarily tied to a woman's blouse, as it is more commonly associated today.

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: 
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
War or Conflict
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

tunics, garments, prendas, trajes, tlahuiztli

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

cozohuipil(li), yellow parrot feather tunic, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cozohuipilli

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 13 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 36 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)

See Also: 

Cozohuipilecan (Mdz38r)