Tecpanecatl (MH492v)

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tecpanecatl ("Person Associated with the Tecpan, or Palace") is attested here as a man's name. Alternately, it could be an occupation, title, or ethnicity. The tecpan was a palace of a lord (tecuhtli). The name's ending, -ecatl, suggests that the person had an affiliation with a tecpan or tecpancalli. At the top of this compound construction is a banner (panitl or pamitl), the phonetic indication for the second syllable in the name (-pan-), but also covering the -tecpan suffix that is similar to the use of a banner when counting things by twenties. The other element in this compound involves a triangle, point down, held up by what appear to be two posts. This creates something like the shape of an M. As graciously suggested by Marc Thouvenot (personal communication, 30 September 2024) this may well be a cuauhtecpantli, a wooden construction that seems to have had a protective function, like a railing. The tepozcuauhtecpantli, which was a colonial innovation involving metal, was an iron grille or balcony railing, often found in churches. The result is a compound that is fully phonographic.