Mixtec Writing - Mixtec Writing and Codices

Mixtec Writing and Codices

Mixtec writing is classified as logographic, meaning the characters and pictures used represent complete words and ideas instead of syllables or sounds. In Mixtec the relationships among pictorial elements denote the meaning of the text, whereas in other Mesoamerican writing the pictorial representations are not incorporated into the text. . The characters used in Mixtec can be sorted into three types, pictographic symbols, ideographic symbols, and phonetic signs. Pictographic symbols can resemble the item they are intended to represent, and refer to one or more words. They are often found in person and place names. Ideographic symbols do not require knowledge of the Mixtec language to understand them, as they are found in other languages of the region and represent the idea which they are intended to portray. These symbols may also be referred to as ideograms or ideographs. . The phonetic symbols used in Mixtec are important to the meaning of the words in which they are used, because Mixtec language is tonal. . A tonal language relies on differences and inflections in the tone of a word to reflect the meaning of that word. These phonetic symbols indicate the tone of the spoken word, or represent instead a homonym of the intended word.

The origin of the Mixtec writing system is unknown, but other Mesoamerican pre-Columbian writing systems, such as that of the Aztecs, are found to have similar traits. The Mixtec writing system is found on codices dating to the Post-Classic period preceding the arrival of the Europeans in 1520 AD. The Mixtec codices are writings recorded on decorated strips of bark and animal hide. The term codex (singular) is usually applied to bound books, though scholars use it to refer to Mesoamerican writings. The codices are constructed by folding bark over to form an accordion-like book, or by covering strips of bark and leather with plaster to form a smooth writing surface.

Common topics found in the codices are biographies of rulers and other influential figures, records of elite family trees, mythologies, and accounts of ceremonies . Content of the biographic codices may be biased, as the subject individual might dictate the events and information they wished to be included, and it has been found that consulting additional codices allows better examination of the person or region from the different events and accounts portrayed.

Some examples of surviving Mixtec writing lie in the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, which is now preserved in the British Library. The Codex Zouche-Nuttall records a multitude of Mixtecan events, including some of the Mixtecan conquests between the 11th and 12th centuries, as well as some of the alliances forged. Despite this, it was made sometime in the 14th century.

After the arrival of the Spanish in 1520 AD, the Mixtec writing system became hybridized with European writing styles and motifs. Some of these codices include European glosses, which facilitates translation when applied to the codices of the pre-Columbian period. Others show alphabetic writing replacing the pictorial traditional writing. Only indigenous authors participated in this hybrid style of writing, while Spanish writers used strictly European writing methods, reflecting their role as conquerors. The function of the codices changed during this period too; the ritual and divinatory aspects of the codices disappeared, while genealogical and culture records were maintained. New genres developed as a result of Spanish sponsorship, as they commissioned Mixtec authors to record information about the people and their past. It is difficult to know today whether the authors altered their information to appease the new European presence, or if their writings depict accurate representations of the Mixtecs at that time.

In addition to being used as a tool for colonial power, Mixtec writings were admissible legal documents. Mixtec writings during the Colonial period were used to document and legitimate land claims of the hereditary nobility and to preserve and maintain the Mixtec culture. Origin myths continued to be recorded as part of genealogical records. The Church, knowing of the religious motifs and creation myths recorded in these codices, confiscated and destroyed them; it is believed many more codices were in existence before the Colonial period.