Chololtecatl (Mdz42r)

Chololtecatl (Mdz42r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for the ethnicity Chololteca (or Chololtecatl, in the singular) can also be interpreted to stand for the place name Cholollan, just as it represents the verb, choloa, to run, flee, or jump. It shows a deer's foot, with a brown textured coat and three turquoise-colored hooves. There is a bit of white on the underside of the foot, which may intend a three-dimensionality. The man's head (in profile, facing to the viewer's right) is connected to the glyph by a line. His face is painted a tan flesh tone. His hair is short, just covering his ear. He wears a red head band, possibly made of leather. His hair is painted purple, probably intending brown or black. On the top of his head is a white heron feather device.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

See below for other examples of the ethnicity Chololtecatl or the verb choloa. The -tecatl ending on the "name" here suggests an affiliation with an altepetl or smaller settlement, hence the idea of the name showing an ethnicity, given that people identified most strongly with the settlement where they were born and grew up.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

chululteca

Gloss Normalization:

Chololteca [or Chololtecatl, if singular was intended]

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

verb

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Gender (male)

Hair (human or animal)

Leather, hides

Race, Ethnicity, Identity

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Chololtecatl, person from Cholula, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chololtecatl

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 42 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 94 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).