Tlacotl (MH895v)

Tlacotl (MH895v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tlacotl (perhaps “Enslaved Person”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows two legs in a profile view, facing the viewer’s right. These legs appear to be tied with a cord above the thighs, perhaps as a form of punishment for a crime or to hobble an enslaved person (tlacotli). Since the name is given as Tlacotl and the visual is for tlacotli, the later may be a phonetic indicator.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Tlacotl glyphs have a range of visual expressions, from sticks, to flowering sticks, and (for tlacotli) to a neck yoke. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

martin tlacotl

Gloss Normalization: 

Martín Tlacotl

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 phonogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Crime, Punishment
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Rope, cord, string, leather ties
Slavery
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
tied, bound, or bundled
Keywords: 

esclavitud, nombres de hombres

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

tlaco(tl), osier twigs, or an enslaved person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacotl
tlaco(tli), an enslaved person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacotli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Esclavo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 895v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=863&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tlacotl (Mdz5v)

Tlacotl (MH647r)

Tlacopan (Osu13r)

Tlaco (MH641r)

Tlaco (MH516r)