xalli (Mdz28r)

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This element has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Xalac. The focus here is on the use of black dots on a white background to show sand, even while in the compound glyph the sand fills the shape of a flow of water.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Dirt, Sand, Soil

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives:

dotted, granular, textured

horizontal

bird's eye view

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

xal(li), sand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalli

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

sand

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 28 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 66 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).