iyaya (Mdz10r)

iyaya (Mdz10r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the element iyaya (to smell bad) shares the glyph image with the compound, Xochiacan. The sense of smell is indicated by the dots between a man's face and a bouquet of flowers that he is holding. The man is shown in profile, looking toward the viewer's left. The flowers have green stems and leaves, red petals, and small yellow balls at the top.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The root of Xochiacan seems to be xochiatl, which refers to perfume. While the verb, iyaya, does not refer to a sweet smell, in the case of xochiatl, it may have only had an olfactory role, not necessarily a negative one.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
verb
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Flowers
Plants, Flora
Sensory Perception
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
green (light)
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
dotted, granular, textured
facing left
profile view
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

olfativo, nariz, narices, fragancia, perfume, mal olor

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

xochia(tl), perfume or fragrant liquid, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xochiatl
iyaya, to smell bad, stink, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/iyaya
ahuiaya, to smell good, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ahuiaya

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 10 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 30 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).

See Also: 

Xochiacan (Mdz10r)