Acozpan (Mdz49r)

Two examples of this type of swirling water with the drops and shells coming off of it appear on either side of the church on the map of Guaxtepec (1580) of the Relación Geográfica. In those examples, one is glossed an "ojo de agua" (Spanish for a natural spring) and the other a "fuente de agua" (Spanish for water source or water fountain). Neither one is yellow, like the one for Acozpan, but the color is less of interest here than the shape. Frances Karttunen suggests that the yellow coz-, from coztic, something yellow, is providing the phonetics for cōz- (collar, necklace). Thus, where Berdan and Anawalt give "On the Yellow Water," Karttunen suggests "On the Whirlpool" (literally, the "water-collar'). The potential significance of the swirling water is brought home, too, by the name glyph for Tetzauh (omen), which seems to suggest that whirlpools (and perhaps whirlwinds, and the like) create a vortex that connects life on earth with a spiritual realm. See below.