Valades

[Mario E. Aguilar]

Plesae send me a cpoy of this image.  I would like to take a try at it!

thanks!


mario e. aguilar
www.mexicayotl.org


>
> From: Galen Brokaw <brokaw at BUFFALO.EDU>
> Date: 2003/10/30 Thu PM 04:12:10 EST
> To: NAHUAT-L at LISTS.UMN.EDU
> Subject: Valades
>
> Fray Diego Valades, the Tlaxcalan mestizo, includes in his RHETORICA
> CHRISTIANA (1579) an illustration that includes an image for each letter
> of the alphabet to be used as a mnemonic technique. He first explains in
> Latin how this system works: the shape of the object is what establishes
> the connection. So, a compass or a ladder could be used for the letter
> A. He then provides another illustration in which he says he uses images
> of things of the Indians that serve to represent the letters, but he
> doesn't explain. And I don't see how any of the images that he includes
> resemble the letters. Evidently at least one scholar has claimed that
> these objects are meant to invoke Nahuatl words whose initial
> sound/letter coincides with the letter assigned to the object in the
> illustration. But, of course, this would not be consistent with the way
> he explained the technique which is supposed to be based on the shape of
> the image. It would seem that the only other solution would be to
> establish merely an arbitrary relationship between the letter and the
> image forming a kind of pictographic alphabet. Does anybody know if this
> issue has been resolved? Has anybody every attempted to identify which
> Nahuatl words the images might be attempting to invoke? If not, does
> anybody know what exactly the relationship is between the images and the
> letters in this diagram?
> If anyone is interested in try to solve this puzzle, I can send you a
> copy of the image that I scanned.
> Interestingly, some of the images are clearly related to the
> pictographic tradition of the codices. Valades was born in Tlaxcala, and
> from the way he talks, it would seem he was very familiar with the
> indigenous pictographic tradition. And if he produced the drawing for
> this "indigenous alphabet", the style of at least the first couple of
> images would seem to indicate this as well.
> I am aware that Samuel Edgerton discusses Valades in his recent book,
> which I have just requested through interlibrary loan. Does anyone know
> if he addresses this issue?
> Thanks,
> Galen
>