Imacehual (MH518r)

Imacehual (MH518r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for the personal name Imacehual (perhaps short for imacehualli, "Feather Fan for Dancing") is attested here as a man's name. It shows the man in question with a dancer's handheld fan or a headdress of six green feathers (probably quetzalli, though this does not enter into the decipherment of the name). This feather fan is attached to a red, t-shaped device--possibly wooden--that connects to the back of the tribute payer's head. The red is slightly pink or purple. The man's face is painted a flesh tone.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This is a deceptive noun. It appears to be the noun macehualli in a possessed form. That could have many readings, relating to a commoner, an Indigenous person, or someone with merit who is deserving. In fact, however, it might not be possessed at all, but is an apocopation for the unpossessed noun imacehualli, having something to do with dance. And the glyphs all seem to show hand-held feather fans.
See below for other headdresses, typically shown in representations of deities or divine forces, such as Xolotl or Tlaloc, or warrior regalia.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

pe^o ymaçeual

Gloss Normalization:

Pedro Imacehual

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

possessive pronoun

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Feathers

Gender (male)

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Music, Song, Dance

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Wood, wooden things

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

curving, curvy, curved

Keywords:

headdresses, tocados, merecimiento, merecer, mérito, vasallos, bailar, danzas, divisas, nombres de hombres, feathers, plumas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

imacehual(li), a feather fan or headdress carried or worn by dancers, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/imacehualli
i- (third person singular possessive), his, her, or its, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/i
macehual(li), commoner or an indigenous person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehualli
mahcehual(li), merit, recompense, fortune, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mahcehualli
-macehual (when possessed), a worthy person, deserving, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehual
macehua, to dance, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehua
macehualiz(tli), a dance or dancing, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macehualiztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Su Mérito

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 518r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=115&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:

"çe" for ce

"y" for i

dropped "h"

Historical Contextualizing Image: