Tecalco (Mdz20v)

Tecalco (Mdz20v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Tecalco has two main components, a diadem and a building. The diadem or crown is turquoise, shown in profile, facing to the viewer's right. It has a point at the front and a red tie (leather?) at the back. The diadem symbolizes a lord or high noble (tecuhtli). The house or building (calli) appears below the diadem. The building is also shown in profile. It is white, with terracotta-colored beams in the shape of a T around the entrance. The locative suffix (-co) is not shown visually here, but the building may be providing a semantic locative.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Even though the spelling might suggest stone, this compound may refer to a place known for having an important noble's (or lord's) house or palace (such as a tecpan), and therefore the orthography might preferably be Teccalco. Other visual representations of the place name Tecalco do emphasize stone (see below).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

tecalco .puo

Gloss Normalization: 

Tecalco, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

houses, buildings, palaces, architecture, casas, edificios, arquitectura, señores, palacios

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

Codex Mendoza, folio 20 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 51 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).