Mixcoatl (MH519v)

Mixcoatl (MH519v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black and white drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Mixcoatl (here, a man's name) features clouds (mixtli) and a serpent or snake (coatl). The snake's body has a loop and the clouds circle around the snake. The head of the snake points upward, it has a rattler tail, spots on its body, its visible eye is open, and its forked tongue protrudes. The clouds have something of the shape of a flower, but outside of those "petals" are additional swirls.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The swirling of the clouds seems to have more emphasis here than in most renditions of the name Mixcoatl. The more famous Mixcoatl was a divine force, usually translated as Cloud Serpent; said in the Florentine Codex to be the only deity worshipped by the Chichimecs.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

luis mixcohuatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Luis Mixcoatl

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: 
deity name/theonym
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Mouth/Beak Open
Religion (Indigenous)
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spotted or mottled
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
bifurcated
dotted, granular, textured
facing upward
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
outward (from inside out)
Keywords: 

snakes, serpents, serpientes, clouds, nubes, cohuatl, nombres de hombres

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

mix(tli), clouds, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixtli
coa(tl), serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 519v, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=118&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mixcoatl (MH483r)

Mixcoatl (MH484v)