Mixcoatl (MH638r)

Mixcoatl (MH638r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent," attested here as a man's name) has two elements, a small cluster of what are probably meant to be clouds (mixtli) at the top and a serpent (coatl) shown in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. The one visible eye is open, and the forked (bifurcated) tongue is protruding. A fang also protrudes, and the tail has a segmented rattler. The snake's body has one loop in the middle, in a semi-coil. The clouds have some vertical hash marks that seem to create shading, or three-dimensionality, a possibly European influence.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Cloud Serpent was a popular name for Nahua men, especially notable in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco. According to Sahagún, it was a divine force among the Chichimecs, and carried a powerful significance for the Nahuas. Some scholars have seen it as a divinity associated with hunting, others as part of a Tlaloc complex (of clouds, rain, lightning, etc.), and others as a symbol for a whirlwind (remolino, in Spanish).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

miscouatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Mixcoatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
deity name/theonym
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Celestial Phenomena
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
shading and parallel line hatching
segmented
three-dimensionality
bifurcated
profile view
horizontal
facing right
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

clouds, nubes, serpents, serpientes, snakes, deities, deidades, Chichimecas, cohuatl, nombres de hombres

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

Mixcoatl, a deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixcoatl
mix(tli), cloud(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixtli
coa(tl), serpent/snake, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 638r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=358&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).

Orthography: 
"s" for x
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mixcoatl (MH486v)

Mixcoatl (MH483v)

Mixcoatl (MH483r)