Tezcacoac (MH594v)

Tezcacoac (MH594v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the place name Tezcacoac (“At the Mirror-Serpent,” a sujeto or barrio of Huexotzinco, or Huejotzingo, today) shows a frontal view of a black obsidian mirror (tezcatl) inside the loop of a coiled serpent (coatl). The serpent is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. It is spotted, its eye is open, and its bifurcated tongue is protruding. Its rattler tail is segmented. The locative suffix (-c) is represented by the building underneath the serpent. It could have been included as part of the compound.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Mirrors could sometimes be used for divining, as found in the case of the nahualtezcatl (see the dictionary entry). So, an association of a mirror with a serpent might also point to a supernatural perception for mirrors.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

dezcacovac barrio

Gloss Normalization:

Tezcacoac, barrio

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:

place name

Syntax:

locative (not visual)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

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

Names (places)

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry

Technology (all types), plus Tools

Tongue Protruding/Noticeable

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

spotted or mottled

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

segmented

bifurcated

dotted, granular, textured

profile view

facing right

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

outward (from inside out)

Keywords:

snakes, serpents, culebras, serpientes, mirrors, espejos, barrios, nombres de lugares, cohuatl

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tezca(tl), mirror, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tezcatl
coa(tl), serpent-snake, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl
nahualtezca(tl), a mirror used for divining, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nahualtezcatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

En el Espejo-Serpiente

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 594v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=268&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: