Quiyauh (MH491v)

Quiyauh (MH491v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Quiyauh ["It Has Rained," from quiahuitl) or quiyahuitl), meaning "Rain" or "Rainstorm," is here attested as a man’s name. It shows a triangular-shaped flow of water coming downward (as though from the sky). It has black lines of current in the flow and a droplet of water at the bottom of the flow. Given the small concentric circle inside the droplet, and given the association with the chalchihuitl green stone with water, some suggest this is a bead.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Rain is a day sign in the calendar. It is crucial for rain-fed farming, and it has associations with the divine force or deity of rain, Tlaloc.

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

gaspar guiyauh

Gloss Normalization: 

Gaspar Quiyauh

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: 
personal name
Syntax: 
phrase or sentence
visual movement
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Celestial Phenomena
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Water
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
triangular
Keywords: 

rains, lluvia, quiyahuitl

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

This example of two concentric circles that stand alone are reminiscent of drops of water. The glyph for rain, above, has one such droplet at the bottom of a short stream of water. These concentric circles carved in stone appear on the side of a pyramid at the archaeological site at Tlatelolco. The stone might not be in its original location, due to reconstruction. Photo by S. Wood, 2 May 2025.

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

quiyahui(tl), to rain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quiyahuitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Ha Llovido

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 491v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=64&st=image .

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).

Orthography: 
"g" for c, q, or x
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Quiyauh (MH497v)

Quiyauh (MH498r)

quiyahuitl (Mdz8r)

Quiyauh (MH648v)

Quiyauh (MH833v)

Quiyauh (BMapF27)