Icahuac (MH496r)

Icahuac (MH496r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Icahuac shows a set of teeth in profile (perhaps from a dog, a coyote, or a wolf, given the long snout), facing toward the viewer's left. Emerging from the teeth are curling scrolls. The verb icahuaca, from which this name might derive, means to murmur or make discordant sounds.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

One wonders whether the reference is to the growling or snarling of a canine. The very visible teeth might point to a an animal that is baring its teeth in an angry or threatening way. Rituals celebrating the force called the Coyotlinahuatl included regalia with "tails, sharp snouts, and erect ears." [See: Dan Flores, Coyote America (2016, 10).] Note the differences between this glyph and others that portray human speech or bird song.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

andres
hicahuac

Gloss Normalization: 

Andrés Icahuac

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
visible sound
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Emotions
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
profile view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Keywords: 

animals, animales, sonidos visuales, teeth, dientes, volutas, scrolls

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

icahuaca, to murmur, make discordant sounds, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/icahuaca

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Él Que Gruñe(?)

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 496r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=71&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: 

cuica (Mdz63r)

Nochhuetl (MH522r)

Cuauhtliztac (MH483r)

Tlahuel (MH518v)

Cuauhtlatoa (Mdz19r)