Tlachatl (MH501v)

Tlachatl (MH501v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tlachatl (“Ball Court Water,” attested here as a man’s name) shows what appears to be a ball court (but also has the look of the sign for movement, olin). Its sides curve out, and the rings for the balls' goals are on the outside of the courts' sides. The sides have a thin stripe near the inner edges. Coming down and out of the court are two streams of water, with a droplet at the end of each stream, and a line of current in the middle of each one. The ink of the water is blacker than the ink of the ball court.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Please see the examples of olin that somewhat echo the shape of this sign. It is significant that the ball court, where a rubber ball (olli) would be at play recalls the olin sign. Olli and olin are near homophones. Also, the movement of the bouncing rubber ball can have an association with the larger philosophical sense of movement that permeates the culture, as has been discussed at length by James Maffie in Aztec Philosophy (2014).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

migl
tlachatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Miguel Tlachatl

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)
visible movement
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Rubber
Sports, Games, Leisure
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
wavy
circle (half)
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

water, agua, cancha, court, balls, pelotas, movement, movimiento, nombres de hombres

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

tlach(tli), ball court, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlachtli
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 501v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=82&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: 

olin (Mdz24v)

olin (Mdz40r)

olin (TR8v)