Amiztlato (MH733r)

This black-line drawing of the compound Nahuatl hieroglyph for the personal name, Amiztlato (or Amiztlahto, with the glottal stop, "Leader among Hunters") is attested here as pertaining to a man. The cougar (miztli) contributes the phonetic syllable -miz- to the middle of the name. It may also contribute a semantic sense to hunting. The wildcat is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. Its mouth appears to be open, almost drinking the water that swirls by. The swirling water has one short stream at the bottom, and a droplet (shaped like a bead) appears at the bottom of this stream. The water (atl) provides the phonetic start ("A-") to the name and suggests the verb to speak, tlatoa, if it is emerging from the animal's mouth like speech. But to be certain, the tlacuilo has added several small speech scrolls next to the water. A leader is one who speaks, the tlatoani (or tlahtoani), so these speech scrolls contribute semantically to the translation of the name.