Concept in Definition ABC

In Mexico the majority language is Spanish. However, there are more than 60 different indigenous languages ​​throughout its territory. One of them is the Náhualt. It is estimated that in the present it is spoken by more than a million people.

The language of the Aztecs

At present the texts written in Náhualt are written from the Latin alphabet, but originally a system of pictograms, ideograms and phonograms was used.

The Spanish religious who settled in Mexican territory were the first to transcribe the Nauhalt texts into the alphabet conventional. Among them are documents with contents poetic, historical accounts, prose narrations (especially folk tales and legends) and administrative texts. At present there are numerous Nahualt-Spanish dictionaries.

Is language it has some unique characteristics. Thus, the use of double letters is frequent (kalli means house, wakki means dry, noohwi means dog and tlaolli means corn), as well as two juxtaposed vowels, three types of prosodic accents, and a complex structure for verb conjugations. The phonemes X, Tl, Hua, Hue and Tz are very characteristic of Náhualt.

Data of interest

- Linguistically the Náhualt language belongs to the family Yuto-Nahua and is related to other languages, such as Yaqui, Corachol or Tarahumara.

- It is believed that this language was originally spoken in the current northwestern United States and that after different migratory processes it moved south.

- Before the stage Colonial this language was the majority in the Mexican territory and, in fact, it was spoken as a lingua franca among the different indigenous communities. In this way, each town had its own language but Náhualt served as a common language.

- Like most indigenous languages, there is not a single Náhualt but there are more than thirty different variants.

- It is an eminently oral language and culture and the tradition written goes to the background.

- Currently it is spoken mainly in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Guerrero and Veracruz.

- Some Spanish words commonly used in Mexico and in some territories of the United States (mainly New Mexico and Texas) belong to the Náhualt language, such as petate, olote, coyote, quetzal, cacao or avocado.

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