Epazoyocan (Mdz22r)

Epazoyocan (Mdz22r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound glyph for the place name Epazoyocan includes a plant called epazotl) (in Mexican Spanish today, epazote). It also features a skunk (epatl). the herb sits on the back of the animal. It consists of two stems with three leaves per stem, colored in a two-tone green. The animal (in full body, crouching) is shown in profile, looking to the viewer's right. The skunk is mostly a gray-purple with three black stripes running perpendicular to the length of the body. It has a long full tail. The -yo- (or -yoh-, if we add the glottal stop) and the locative suffix (-can) are not shown visually.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The skunk reinforces the phonetic reading of the plant as beginning with "epa." Gordon Whittaker (Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 78) calls the skunk a "semantic indicator" to reinforce the logogram of epazotl). The two logograms have a similar starting sound, so the epatl could also be a phonetic complement. If it is a semantic indicator, it may be because both the herb and the skunk can have a strong smell. The place glyph really points to the edible herb, which is still used in Mexican cuisine today. The -yo- says that the place is "invested with the quality" of epazote, according to Frances Berdan. The locative (-can) tells "the place where."

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

Epaçuyucā. pu^o

Gloss Normalization:

Epazoyocan, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

phonetic dimensions

place name

semantic indicator

Syntax:

noun(s)

visible fragrance or odor

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Food, Eating, Cooking

Names (places)

Plants, Flora

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiky

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

upward

multidirectional

Reading Order, Notes:

The herb is the important part of this place name. The skunk just provides phonetic reinforcement for the reading. Still, one might say the direction is downward, given that the plant at the top is primary, and the part below is not really necessary but would be read secondarily, to reassure the reader of the type of plant. For now, the reading is left as both upward and downward, or multidirectional.

Keywords:

skunks, herbs, zorrillos, hierbas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

epazo(tl), an edible plant, an herb, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/epazotl
epa(tl), skunk, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/epatl
-yo(tl)-, having that characteristic or quality/inalienable possession, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yotl
-can (locative suffix), place where, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/can-2

Karttunen’s Interpretation:

"Place Full of Epazotl" (agreeing with Berdan and Anawalt) [Frances Karttunen, unpublished manuscript, used here with her permission.]

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Where There are a Lot of Epazote Herbs" (Whittaker, 2021, 78); "Place Full of Epazotl" (Berdan and Anawalt, 1992, vol. 1, p. )

Whittaker's Transliteration:

^EPAEPAZO.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

"El Lugar Repleto con Epazote"

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 22 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 54 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).