Tlahuiz (MH661r)

Tlahuiz (MH661r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tlahuiz (“Insignia”) is attested here as a man’s name. It shows a staff with a device of five curving feathers at the top. Hanging below and to the right of the device is a white square attached by a curving cord.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

At minimum, this insignia calls to the fore the man's name. Coats of arms caught the attention of more and more elite Nahuas over the course of the Spanish colonial era, but this man does not have a "don" title of nobility before his name. It may or may not have been his own coat of arms, although they did exist prior to the Spanish invasion. Justyna Olko (Insignia of Rank in the Nahua World, 2014, 353) writes: "Pre-Hispanic insignia were showcased in new ways and combined with European symbols" over the colonial period. It is unclear if this one here is a pre-contact type of insignia or one influenced by the Europeans in some way.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Esteuā. tlahuiz.

Gloss Normalization: 

Estevan Tlahuiz

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: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
curving, curvy, curved
frontal view
rectangular
vertical, upright
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

armas, insignia, feathers, plumas, nombres de hombres

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

tlahuiz(tli), battle devices, weapons, or insignia, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlahuiztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Insignia

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 661r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=402&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: 
"u" for b or v
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Oztomecatl (MH660v)