Ecatl Iztac (MH575r)

Ecatl Iztac (MH575r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Ecatl Iztac (“Air-White,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a duck-like head with an open eye and an open beak, a small protrusion above the beak, a white (iztac) face, and a white conical cap. The face has a black horizontal line, possibly face paint or a tattoo. The base of the hat has hash marks.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The gloss gives "Ecatl," but the visuals suggest "Ehecatl." A great many glyphs in this collection start with Eca- when one might expect Eheca-. We are preserving the proclivity of the gloss for Eca-, while also pointing to the likelihood of an unintentional oral abbreviation of Eheca- to Eca-.

The duck head recalls the mask of Ehecatl (the spirit or divine force of wind), with the diagnostic vertical line on his cheek and the conical hat (copilli). The conical hat is linked with the Huasteca and was worn by both Ehecatl and Quetzalcoatl. [See: Peter O. Koch, The Aztecs, the Conquistadors, and the Making of Mexican Culture (2015, 8).] It is not unusual for a an ehecatl (wind) glyph to be glossed ecatl (air, breath), as it is here.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juā ecatliz tac

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Ecatl Iztac

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Keywords: 

aires, vientos, aliento, deidades, espíritos, divinidades, fuerzas naturales

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

Ehecatl or eheca(tl), wind, or the spirit or divine force of the wind, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ehecatl
eca(tl), air or breath, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ecatl
iztac, white, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/iztac

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El Aire Blanco, o El Viento Blanco

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 
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: