Olin (MH533r)

Olin (MH533r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Olin (“Movement,” attested here as a man’s name) shows the quincunx sign for olin with a black rubber ball (olli) with a white rim around it as a phonetic complement. Another phonetic complement resides in the horizontal, alternating footprints, to provide the "o" sound in the word for road (otli).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Olin was a day name in the 260-day divinatory calendar called the tonalpohualli in Nahuatl. This calendar had a role in various Mesoamerican religions, including the Mixtec.

Because the letter "n" has a tendency to be intrusive and to drop away where needed, it is a challenge to determine whether this name is really olli or olin. Either one is possible. But, if just rubber ball were intended, the artist could have made the ball and left it at that.

Footprint glyphs have a wide range of translations. In this collection, so far, we can attest to yauh, xo, pano, -pan, paina, temo, nemi, quetza, otli, iyaquic hualiloti, huallauh, tetepotztoca, totoco, -tihui, and the vowel "o." Other research (Herrera et al, 2005, 64) points to additional terms, including: choloa, tlaloa, totoyoa, eco, aci, quiza, maxalihui, centlacxitl, and xocpalli.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

alōso olli

Gloss Normalization: 

Alonso Olin (although it could be Olli)

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: 
calendrics
day name
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
visible movement
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Footprint(s), human
Gender (male)
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Rubber
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bird's eye view
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
curving, curvy, curved
frontal view
quincunx or quatrefoil
triangular
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
outward (from inside out)
Keywords: 

movement, movimiento, rubber, hule_

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

ol(in), movement, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/olin
ol(li), rubber, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/olli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Movimiento

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 533r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=145

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: 

olli (Mdz70r)

Olin (MH486v)

Olin (MH499r)

Olin (MH501r)

Olin (MH834v)