Temic (MH783v)

Temic (MH783v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Temic ("Dream," "Cocoon," or a famous name) shows a frontal view of a cocoon. It has curving lines across its body and a small head. Its face consists of two dots for eyes and one dot for a mouth. It appears shrouded, similar to a corpse.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Other glyphs in this collection show cocoons or caterpillars for the name Temic or Temictli. Cocoons resemble shrouded corpses, which could be a phonetic indication for micqui (deceased person), and provide the "mic-" element in this name. Perhaps the cocoons were meant to disguise the meaning of "dream." Bartolomé de Alva's confessionary shows that Nahuas were interrogated about their belief in dreams. Another consideration is that the cocoon was a dream of a butterfly to come, and butterflies figure prominently in Nahua religious beliefs, as explained in an article by Ian Mursell in Mexicolore.

Temictli was also a famous name, given to the nephew of Moctezuma I. Here it is also attested as a man's name.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

garistō temic

Gloss Normalization:

Calixto Temic

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

phonetic possibilities

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Death, decay, decomposition

Dreams, Visions

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

Keywords:

cocoons, capullos, dreams, sueños, death, muerte, morir, shrouds, sleep, dormir, caterpillars, butterfly, mariposas, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

temic(tli), dream or silkworm cocoon, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/temictli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, Sueño o Capullo

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:

"g" for c, q, or x

"s" for x

intrusive overbar

Historical Contextualizing Image: