Ixtlil (MH901r)

Ixtlil (MH901r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Ixtlil (perhaps “Dark Face”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows an eye (ixtli) in the shape of the older “starry” or “stellar” eye that could double as a star in the sky. But the lower half of the round eye is filled in with black (tlilli) paint.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The literal translation of Black Eye, or Ojo Morado in Spanish, might be incorrect in pointing to a lesion. The name Ixtlil could be a short version of the name Ixtlilxochitl, a famous name in early Nahua history associated with Tetzcoco. Of course, both that famous name (two people, actually) and this more humble Ixtlil may well refer to the divine force of medicine, Ixtlilton, who wore a black mask on his face and divined using a black obsidian mirror. In fact, Alonso de Molina translates ixtliltic, the adjective, as being dark in the face.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

po yxtlil

Gloss Normalization: 

Pedro Ixtlil

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: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Color names
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
circle, circular or rounded
frontal view
Keywords: 

cara morena, ojos, color negro, nombres de hombres

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

ix(tli), eye, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ixtli
tlil(li), black color, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlilli
ixtliltic, dark complexioned, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ixtliltic

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, Rostro Moreno

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 901r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=874&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: 
"y" for i
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Ixtlil (MH708v)

Ixtlil (MH744v)

Ixtlil (MH626r)

Ixtlilxochitl (MH521r)