Cihuatl Ichan (MH695r)

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the place name Cihuatl Ichan (or Cihuatlichan; meaning “Woman’s Home”) shows a profile view of a rectangular, red-white-and-black building (chantli) in a profile view, facing left. Above the building is a woman’s head, also in profile, looking left. Her hairdo (usually called the neaxtlahuallI) with the twists at the bottom/back and the two points above her forehead, absolutely identifies her as a woman. On her cheek is the “hua” phonetic syllable (from huahuana, to make stripes), which reinforces the reading of cihuatl. See some examples below, including the glyph for Cuetlacteca Cihuatl, which only has these vertical stripes as a way of representing cihuatl. In many other cases, the stripes will appear on a woman’s cheek, but also even on the cheek of a man who has womanly attributes, names, or titles (e.g., Cihuatecpanecatl).