Matlactli Calli (Mdz2r)

Matlactli Calli (Mdz2r)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph plus notation stands for the solar year (xihuitl) date, Ten House (Matlactli Calli), also written 10-Calli. It includes a notation for ten that is two groups of five, one in the upper left and one running down the right side of the black-line box that surrounds the date. The house or building (calli) is shown in profile facing to the viewer's right. It is the usual rectangular structure with right angles. The entire date is painted over with a turquoise blue color. This paint could be a phonetic indicator for the word "year," given that year and turquoise are homophones (both being xihuitl).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Turquoise (xihuitl) and year (xihuitl) are homophones, and the color is employed intentionally to convey that this is a solar date. The notation in this compound shows two groups of five circles, which is like a math equation, 5 + 5 = 10, recalling ancient systems of counting on one's fingers. It also shows a way of thinking about sums. Sometimes, in other manuscripts, notations for ten will show the circles all in a row, all run together (see below). The boxing of the dates on the Codex Mendoza may limit the space for a full, horizontal line of ten ones. Sometimes, even in the same Codex Mendoza, the two groups of fives will be separated with a smaller group in between (also shown below), or the two groups of five will run together and go around a corner, with a slight separation for a remaining, smaller group of ones afterwards.

Added 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

Semantic Categories:

calendrics

year name

phonetic dimensions

numbers

homophony, rebus

Syntax:

noun(s)

ten as two fives (notation)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Architecture, Construction, Buildings

Numbers, Math

Time, Calendar, Frequency

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

blue (turquoise)

Shapes and Perspectives:

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

números, fechas, calendarios, casas, edificios, xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cal(li), house or building, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/calli
matlac(tli), ten, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlactli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Diez Casa

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 02 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 14 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).