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AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PICTORIAL AND VERBAL SIGNS IN AN OTOMI CODEX

CLOUD SERPENT, KING OF THE PLACE OF THE
FLOWERING TENDER EARS OF CORN:
AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PICTORIAL AND
VERBAL SIGNS IN AN OTOMI CODEX
David Charles Wright
Universidad de Guanajuato
Introduction
In the early colonial period, native authors in New Spain continued to pro-
duce manuscripts using the ancient central Mexican pictorial script, ofen
combined with European graphic elements. In the Huichapan Codex, pro-
duced in the early seventeenth century, we fnd a history of the Otomi king-
dom of Amadontxi, Place of the Flowering Tender Ears of Corn (Xilote-
pec, On the Mountain of the Tender Ears of Corn, in Nahuatl; Jilotepec
in modern Spanish). Tese annals are painted in the traditional style of the
canon of native historical narrative, with alphabetical texts in Otomi that
record oral tradition associated with the visual language. In this paper I shall
draw on theory and methods for iconographic, linguistic, philological, and
ethnohistorical analysis to interpret one page of this manuscript. Te results
of this exercise shed light on the nature of central Mexican pictorial writing
and its essentially translinguistic nature.
Pictorial Writing in Central Mexico
Te nature of central Mexican pictorial writing has long been the subject
of controversy. Early researchers tended to exaggerate the relation of the
painted signs to linguistic structures in a given language (generally Na-
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David Charles Wright
huatl). Tey were motivated, at least in part, by their desire to place this
system of graphic communication on a higher rung of the ladder of the
evolution of civilizations. It was assumed that primitive cultures employed
more pictorial systems and that advanced societies used abstract signs to
represent elements of language, the culmination of this evolution being the
alphabet. Now we know that this vision is simplistic and Eurocentric. Most
writing systems historically do not follow this ascending path toward essen-
tially phonographic systems like our own (Coe, 1992, pp. 25-26). Indeed,
Western civilization is turning increasingly to the use of graphic signs that
express ideas, without being tied to linguistic structures in a particular lan-
guage, largely as a response to the multilingual context of a global society.
Tis graphic expression of ideas may be called semasiography. Examples
can be seen in road signs, icons in digital displays, and instructions for the
use of consumer products (Coulmas, 2003; Harris, 2000; Sampson, 1985).
Since the nineteenth century, some scholars have tended to exaggerate
the role of pictorial signs in central Mexican documents that express linguis-
tic structures, which may be classifed as glotography. Such signs existed
in these pictorial texts, but their use was exceptional. Tus the atempts to
raise the status of native central Mexican cultures by exaggerating the glot-
tographic nature of their writing system were misguided. Te fundamental-
ly semasiographic script used in this region at the time of the Spanish con-
quest was well-suited to the needs of a plurilingual society (Boone, 1994;
Boone, 2011). Tis writing system continued to be employed by native
scribes long afer the introduction of the European alphabet, in documents
with a wide range of subjects: ritual and calendrical, historical, genealogical,
cartographic, economic, ethnographic, and others (Glass, 1975).
I say that central Mexican pictorial script was fundamentally semasio-
graphic because the same graphs were used to represent the same ideas by
scribes that spoke Nahuatl, Otomi, Mixtec, and other languages. Most of
the content of the pictorial texts could be read semasiographically in any
of these tongues. Tis system of visual communication, however, permits
the insertion of glotographic signs that function through homophonous
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AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PICTORIAL AND VERBAL SIGNS IN AN OTOMI CODEX
or quasi-homophonous word play, like modern rebus writing, in which a
word, morpheme, or phoneme is represented by means of the depiction of
an object associated with a distinct word or morpheme having an identical
or similar sound (Wright, 2009a). While these glotographic signs appear
occasionally in pre-Hispanic texts from this region (Wright, 2009b), they
are found more frequently in manuscripts from the mid-sixteenth century,
particularly in the Tepetlaztoc codex group from the Texcoco region in the
eastern Valley of Mexico (Valle, 1994; Williams & Harvey, 1997; Williams
& Hicks, 2011).
Te Kingdom of Jilotepec
Troughout the colonial period many Otomi nobles throughout central
Mexico proudly traced their lineages to the lords of Jilotepec; in this con-
text the Huichapan Codex was created. Tematic and stylistic evidence sug-
gests that an earlier pictorial manuscript, together with oral tradition, were
the basis for this manuscript, one of the few surviving documents that re-
cord Otomi historical memory. In the late pre-Hispanic period, Huichapan
was a low-ranking town called Hueichiapan in Nahuatl and Antmatsitsi in
Otomi. Both names mean Big Wet Place. During the century and a half fol-
lowing the Spanish conquest, Huichapan grew in size, power, and prestige,
gradually eclipsing Jilotepec as a regional center and as seat of the Spanish
regional government. Te social prestige of the Otomi nobles of Huichapan,
nonetheless, derived from their dynastic links with the pre-Hispanic lords of
Jilotepec (Wright, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 17-275, 551; vol. 2, pp. 338, 339).
Te ruling dynasties of Tenochtitlan and Jilotepec were intertwined.
Itzcoatl (Obsidian Serpent), King of Tenochtitlan, founded the Triple Al-
liance with Texcoco and Tlacopan, overthrowing the Tepanecs of Azcapo-
tzalco in 1428. One early colonial native source says he had ancestors from
Jilotepec. In the same year he sent his son Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpent) to rule
this Otomi kingdom (Chimalpahin, 1997, vol. 1, pp. 42, 132, 133, 232, 233;
vol. 2, pp. 100, 101). Tese family ties did not guarantee political stability;
the rulers of Tenochtitlan had to conquer Xilotepec three times during the
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David Charles Wright
last century of the pre-Hispanic era (Alva, 1975-1977, vol. 2, p. 144; Al-
varado, 1980, pp. 461-463, 467-470; Berdan & Anawalt, 1992, f. 8r). When
they were not revolting, armed forces from Jilotepec fought alongside the
warriors of the Triple Alliance, aiding the expansion of this powerful tribute
state. Te campaigns are mentioned in the Huichapan Codex (f. 13v-32r).
Te region controlled by Jilotepec included what is now the western half
of the state of Hidalgo and adjoining parts of the state of Mexico. Tis area
was on the northern frontier of Mesoamerican civilization and the western
border of the territory controlled by the Triple Alliance. Te lands to the
north and northwest were occupied by nomadic hunters and gatherers with
a simpler form of social organization. Te region to the west of the province
of Jilotepec was controlled the Tarascan state, a powerful political entity in
what is today the state of Michoacn (Van Zantwijk, 1969). Afer the Span-
ish Conquest, the Otomi kingdom of Amadontxi became the Indian town
of Jilotepec. Te tributary province administered by the native government
of Jilotepec, occupying an area similar to the pre-conquest kingdom, was ex-
ceptionally productive: in one year the Indians of Jilotepec delivered 17,000
pesos in coins, wheat and corn (Porras, 1982, p. 327).
Te Huichapan Codex
Te manuscript known as the Huichapan Codex, painted and writen on 34
folios (68 pages) of European paper, has four thematic sections. Te frst,
seven pages long, consists of a text writen in the Otomi language with a
script derived from the Latin alphabet that had been introduced by Spanish
friars and other European colonists; it records the annals of the Indian town
of Huichapan from 1539 to 1618 and 1629 to 1632. Te second part, a list
of the towns under the control of the pre-Hispanic kingdom of Xilotepec,
occupies two pages; each town is represented by a pictorial sign in the native
tradition, accompanied by an alphabetical gloss in Otomi. Te third section,
also two pages long, explains the calendrical system of ancient Mesoamer-
ica and its correlation with the European calendar, with alphabetical texts
in Otomi, Nahuatl, Spanish, and Latin. Te fourth occupies the remaining
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AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PICTORIAL AND VERBAL SIGNS IN AN OTOMI CODEX
55 pages of the manuscript; it presents the history of the kingdom of Xilote-
pec from the year 2 Reed (1403) to 10 Flint (1528), with some gaps due
to the loss of folios, as well as some errors in the year count. In this section
pictorial signs in the native tradition are accompanied by lengthy glosses in
Otomi and a few short glosses in Nahuatl. Most of the pictorial signs can be
read in Otomi, Nahuatl, or any other central Mexican language, since they
represent ideas, not elements of speech in a specifc language. Te history
focuses on the rulers of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan, Jilotepec, and
other kingdoms: their enthronements, wars, deaths, and notable deeds. Te
Spanish conquest is depicted at the end of this section, as is the founding of
a Christian church in Jilotepec. Tus the history of this Otomi polity is pre-
sented within the broader framework of central Mexican history (Wright,
2005, vol. 1, pp. 525-573; Wright, 2011; Wright, 2012).
In a paper presented at the Second International Qualitative Research
Conference (Wright, 2009a), I explained that the vast majority of the pic-
torial signs in the Huichapan Codex are semasiographic in nature; that is,
they express ideas, without being necessarily bound to linguistic structures
in a given language. Of a total of 610 graphs (simple or composite picto-
rial signs), approximately 93% can be safely classifed as semasiographs by
applying the following rule: If a graph is motivated (that is, if it represents an
object pictorially) and can be read meaningfully in two or more languages (that
are not closely related), it is a semasiograph (p. 249). I identifed 15 graphs
that have possible glotographic values (expressing linguistic structures) in
Otomi or Nahuatl, although none of these readings are certain, mainly be-
cause of doubts regarding the etymologies of the words related to the picto-
rial signs, or of the meanings of these signs.
1
1
Tis is an example of the possibility for interplay between qualitative and quantitative research
methods: the classifcation of the graphs is based on qualitative analysis. Te quantitative analysis
of the results gives us a more precise understanding of the use of central Mexican pictorial writing
in the case of one manuscript. Te results of this quantitative analysis can in turn be interpreted in
qualitative terms.
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David Charles Wright
Description of Folio 17 Verso of the Huichapan Codex
2

Tis page has relatively few pictorial elements , compared to some of the
more complex compositions in the fourth section of this manuscript.
Folio 17 verso of the Huichapan Codex (Reyes, 1992: plate 34).
2
For a Spanish version of this interpretation, see Wright, 2012, p. 56.
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AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PICTORIAL AND VERBAL SIGNS IN AN OTOMI CODEX
At the botom are two rectangular frames with calendrical signs represent-
ing the years 3 Reed (1443) and 4 Flint (1444). Tey are part of a band
of year signs that runs throughout the fourth section of this manuscript,
combining the four year-bearing day signs (Reed, Flint, House, and Rabbit)
with thirteen numbers, represented by chains of circles, thus producing the
names of the years in the 52-year cycle. Tese dates may be read in Otomi
(Ehi Anxithi, Ecoho Aneyaxi) and in Nahuatl (Yei Acatl, Nahui Tecpatl) and
thus can be securely classifed as semasiographs.
Year signs: 3 Reed (1443) and 4 Flint (1444) (Reyes, 1992: plate 34, detail).
Above the 3 Reed sign there is a complex of graphs (which could also be
considered iconic elements, since this graphic system straddles the blurry
border between the Western semantic categories of writing and painting).
Tese signs form a coherent unit which includes the following elements:
(1) A mountain, with a cut-of base and volutes at its sides represent-
ing the idea of stone, covered with a network of rhomboids with dots
that expresses the scaly, reptilian surface of the Earth (see Aguilera,
1984, p. 31);
(2) A fow of water, the rivulets of which end in small seashells and
precious stone beads;
(3) Two ears of corn, which appear to sprout from the peak of the
mountain;
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David Charles Wright
(4) A man, with a red bow tied in his hair like those worn by Otomi
warriors, wrapped in a red cape covered with the same network design
as the surface of the mountain.
(5) A seat with a backrest, covered with jaguar skin;
(6) A ratlesnake;
(7) Scrolls on the serpents back, representing clouds.
Cloud Serpent, King of the Place of the Flowering Tender Ears of Corn
(Reyes, 1992: plate 34, detail).
To interpret this graphic complex, the signs must be read in groups. Te
mountain with the fow of water expresses the Otomi word andehentoho,
the water, the mountain, a metaphorical couplet that signifes the concepts
of kingdom and town. Te ears of corn evoke the Otomi name Amadontxi,
Place of the Flowering Tender Ears of Corn. Te man in the jaguar-skin
seat is an Otomi king or otay, great ruler. Te serpent with clouds on his
back depicts this kings name, Ekngui, Cloud Serpent.
Te Otomi words Amadontxi, otay, and Ekngui appear in the al-
phabetical text at the top of this page, so the later reading of these signs
is secure. Te word andehentoho, while not it this particular gloss, may be
found in the frst section of the Huichapan Codex.
Tis graphic complex can also be read in Nahuatl. Te mountain with
the water represents the word altepetl, the water, the mountain, which has
the same meanings as its equivalent in Otomi. Te ears of corn with the
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AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PICTORIAL AND VERBAL SIGNS IN AN OTOMI CODEX
mountain express the place name Xilotepec, On the Mountain of the Ten-
der Ears of Corn. (Notice that the mountain sign forms part of two distinct
words in the Nahuatl reading.) Te enthroned king is a hueitlatoani or great
ruler named Mixcoatl, Cloud Serpent.
Conclusions
Tis analysis shows that the Otomi participated in the ancient central Mexi-
can tradition of pictorial writing. Te essentially semasiographic quality of
this system of graphic communication, at least in the case of the Huichapan
Codex, is evident, as the pictorial signs can be read in Otomi and Nahuatl.
Tis is possible largely because both language groups shared the same cul-
ture. Calendrical terms, place names, personal names, and even metaphori-
cal couplets passed from one language community to the other in the form
of calques, or semantic loans, in which ideas were translated without the
phonological structures associated with them in a given language (Camp-
bell, Kaufman, & Smith, 1986; Smith, 1994).
Central Mexican pictorial writing continued to be used by native scribes
throughout much of the colonial period, together with the alphabetical
script introduced by European colonists. Tis situation allows us to view
an old form of the Otomi language and to study its relation to the painted
signs. In this sense the Huichapan Codex is a Roseta Stone of sorts, since it
expresses the same ideas in the native pictorial language and in two languag-
es spoken in this region, Otomi and Nahuatl. Tere is still much work to be
done, particularly regarding colonial Otomi grammar (which is much less
understood today that Nahuatl grammar), before a more or less defnitive
study can be produced. Tis line of inquiry is important for understanding
central Mexican writing, culture, and language, as well as for recovering the
historical memory of the Otomi people, who have been overshadowed by
the Nahua from the sixteenth century chronicles to modern scholarship.
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David Charles Wright
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