Malcahual (MH783v)

Malcahual (MH783v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Malcahual (perhaps “Abandoned Captive”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows the head of a man in profile, looking toward the viewer’s right. The hand of another person is grasping and pulling the hair straight up, suggesting a capture or enslavement. The grasping hand might also refer to the “hua” sound in the name.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

See other glyphs below that show hair pulling. To pull or cut someone's hair in Nahua culture was a grave insult and cause of intense emotion. Sonya Lipsett-Rivera writes about the ritual humiliation of hair pulling in Religion in New Spain, eds. Susan Schroeder and Stafford Poole (2007), 79.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

anthonio malcahual

Gloss Normalization:

Antonio Malcahual

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)

Hair (human or animal)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

War or Conflict

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Keywords:

cautivos, abandonados, viudos, tirarle el pelo, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

mal(li), war captive, prisoner, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/malli
cahual(li), someone abandoned, such as a widow or widower, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cahualli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, Cautivo Abandonado, o Viudo Cautivo

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 783v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=661&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:

"th" for t, d, or gd

Historical Contextualizing Image: