Tetzcuin (MH896r)

Tetzcuin (MH896r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Tetzcuin (perhaps “Stone-Dog” or maybe “Ugly Thing”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows the head of a white dog (an itzcuintli) in profile, looking right. A line from the dog’s mouth connects to a vertical, point-down, writing implement. This implement has some interesting detail that is not found on all such tools. There is nothing in the visuals here that suggests “stone” (tetl) or even an ugly deformed thing (tetzcuino). If this hieroglyph intends an apocopated tetzcuino, then the compound would be fully phonographic.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

If stone-dog is meant, perhaps the name refers to a stone carving of a dog. If tetzcuino (ugly or deformed thing) is meant, see a couple of examples of hieroglyphs below that seem to suggest some type of deformity. Perhaps surprisingly, having some kind of physical abnormality could have been a plus. Ben Leeming has written about people with deformities in Nahua culture as "morally neutral, supernaturally powerful, and ultimately essential members of the Mesoamerican sacred realm." [See: “‘Big-Old Long Lips’, ‘Big-Old Jar Nose’: Ancient Mesoamerican Monsters and Clowns and the Transformation of Christianity in Early Colonial Mexico," Ancient Mesoamerica 33:2 (Summer 2022).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

pilipe tetzcuin, ycnooq~chtli

Gloss Normalization: 

Felipe Tetzcuin, icnooquichtli

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: 
line connecting elements
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals: Misc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Writing, Literacy
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
pointed (see also spiky)
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
right to left
Keywords: 

diformes, piedras, perros, itzcuintles, cosas feas, nombres de hombres

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

tetzcuino, an ugly deformed thing, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetzcuino
itzcuin(tli), a Mexican dog, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itzcuintli
te(tl), stone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Piedra-Itzcuintli, o tal vez Cosa Fea

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 896r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=864&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: 
"i" for e
"p" or "ph" for f, p, or b
"y" for i
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Tencax (MH604r)

zannennenqui (Mdz70r)

Itlahuelil (MH695r)