“Secret Language” in Oral and Graphic Form: Religious-Magic Discourse in Aztec Speeches and Manuscripts

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a particular linguistic register of the Nahua (Aztec) people that has been classified as “magical-religious” because it was used for communication with the sacred realm. A hypothesis is developed that in the Mesoamerican pictographic calendar-religious manuscripts, which treat matters strictly linked to the supernatural world, a similar register should be evident. Far from considering the information presented in these resources as resulting from the direct transcription of oral language, the idea is that the graphic form represents elements emblematic of orality, although adapted to this particular context and mode for expression.

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Fig. 1. Priests in array of eagle and fire serpent. Vindobonensis Codex (lam. 48).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 2. Drum called Huehuetl de Malinalco.

Redrawn from Alcina Franch et al. (1992:fig. LXII) by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 3. Symbol of war. Codex Mendoza (fol. 4v).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 4a. Borgia Codex (lam. 29).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 4b. Borgia Codex (lam. 52).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 4c. Borgia Codex (lam. 72).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 5a. Sahagún Primeros Memoriales facs. (fol. 51r)

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 5b. Vaticanus B Codex (lam. 42).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 5c. Borgia Codex (lam. 65).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 5d. Borgia Codex (lam. 54).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 5e. Vaticanus B Codex (lam. 83).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 6a. As a jaguar. Cospi Codex (lam. 11).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 6b. As a shield with arrows. Borgia Codex (lam. 54).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 7a. Fejérváry-Mayer Codex (lam. 28).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 7b. Vaticanus B Codex (lam. 40).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 8a. The maize god, Centeotl. Cospi Codex (lam. 2).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 8b. The god of the Underworld, Mictlantecuhtli. Cospi Codex (lam. 7).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 8c. The fertility goddess, Tlazolteotl. Cospi Codex (lam. 7).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 9a. The temple of South decorated with tlaquaquallo elements. Cospi Codex (lam. 13).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 9b. Dead man devoured by a skeletal deity. Borgia Codex (lam. 57).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 10a. Vaticanus B Codex (lam. 7).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 10b. Cospi Codex (lam. 7).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 10c. Borgia Codex (lam. 7).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 11a. Borgia Codex (lam. 48).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 11b. Borgia Codex (lam. 8).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 12a. Graphic representation of water as precious liquid. Borgia Codex (lam. 50).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 12b. Graphic representation of water as precious liquid. Borgia Codex (lam. 50).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 13. The “god pot”. Borgia Codex (lam. 29).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 14a. Graphic representation of “god pot.” Borgia Codex (lam. 31).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 14b. Graphic representation of “god pot.” Borgia Codex (lam. 32).

Redrawn by Katarzyna Mikulska Dąbrowska.

Fig. 15a. Earth in monster form, painted with arms and legs open. Image on the base of so called Hakmack Box.

Drawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

Fig. 15b. The fertility goddess Tlazolteotl, giving birth. Borbonicus Codex (lam. 13).

Redrawn by Nadezda Kryvda.

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