Telpoch (MH874r)

Telpoch (MH874r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Telpoch (perhaps “Young Warrior”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows the head of a man in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. The gloss tells us that this is a young man (telpochtli). He has a sharp, pointed, labret on his chin. Perhaps this is a clue to his youth or that the is a warrior.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

For such a common noun (telpochtli), it is surprising that this is only the second glyph of its kind to enter this database (February 2025), with over 6K records. We do have representations of Huei Pochtlan and Opochtli. About the “poch” element that they all share, In her unpublished essay (shared with me) reviewing the work of Berdan and Anawalt in deciphering place names in the Codex Mendoza, Frances Karttunen adds this in her notes: "There seems to be a morpheme in ichpo:ch- 'young woman' and telpo:ch- 'young man' that may also occur in the deity names o:po:ch- and hui:zilo:po:ch-. It forms its plural by reduplication: po:po:ch-; cf. telpo:po:chtin 'young men' rather than simply tel.po:chtin.”

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

matheo telpoch

Gloss Normalization: 

Mateo Telpoch

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: 
Aging (People, Animals, Things)
Family, Kinship, even Friendship
Gender (male)
Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
spiky
Keywords: 

hijos, muchachos, jóvenes, guerreros jóvenes, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

telpoch(tli), son, young man, a youth, a young warrior, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/telpochtli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Guerrero Joven

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 874r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=820&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: 
See Also: 

Huei Pochtlan (Mdz29r)

Opochtli (MH842r)

Telpoch (MH871r)