Ocelotl (MH483v)

Ocelotl (MH483v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Ocelotl (here, attested as a man’s name) shows a jaguar (ocelotl) head in profile, looking toward the viewer's right. Its coat is spotted.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Ocelotl does not equate to ocelot in English, but rather means jaguar. The ocelotl was a day name in the 260-day divinatory calendar called the tonalpohualli. When babies were given this name, it would originally have had a companion number from 1 to 13. By 1560, when this manuscript was made, these numbers were either fading our of use, or they were suppressed to reduce a recognition of the continued influece of the pre-contact calendar and its religious associations. Jaguars and eagles were also the mascots for Aztec warriors.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

ocelotl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Time, Calendar, Frequency
War or Conflict
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
spotted or mottled
Keywords: 

jaguars, jaguares, days, días, fechas, dates, calendars, calendarios, nombres de hombres

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

ocelo(tl), a jaguar, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ocelotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el jaguar

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 483v, World Digital Library,

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

ocelotl (Mdz52r)

Ocelotl (MH514r)

Ocelotl (MH505v)

Ocelotl (MH648r)