   #copyright

Nahuatl language

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Languages

   Nahuatl, Náhuatl, Mexicano, Nawatl
   Nahuatlahtolli, Māsēwallahtōlli
   Spoken in: Mexico: Mexico (state), Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Guerrero,
   Morelos, and Oaxaca, Tabasco, Michoacán, Durango, Jalisco
   Total speakers: over 1.5 million
   Language family: Uto-Aztecan
     Aztecan
     General Aztec
      Nahuatl, Náhuatl, Mexicano, Nawatl
   Official status
   Official language of: none
   Regulated by: Secretaría de Educación Pública
   Language codes
   ISO 639-1: none
   ISO 639-2: to be added
   ISO/FDIS 639-3: —
   Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA
   chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

   Nahuatl (['na.watɬ] is a term applied to a group of related languages
   and dialects of the Aztecan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family,
   indigenous to central Mexico. It is spoken by more than 1.5 million
   people in Mexico, and under the "Law of Linguistic Rights" Nahuatl is
   recognized as a "national language" along with 62 other indigenous
   languages and Spanish which have the same "validity" in Mexico .
   Nahuatl is mostly known outside of Mexico because the Aztecs spoke
   Nahuatl: a variant now known as Classical Nahuatl.

Overview

   Nahuatl is the most widely-spoken group of Native American languages in
   Mexico or in North America as a whole. As is the case with most other
   Mexican indigenous languages, many of the speakers of Nahuatl are
   bilingual, having working knowledge of the Spanish language. In the
   past, a significant number of the Nahuatl speakers outside the Valley
   of Mexico were bilingual in languages other than Spanish, speaking both
   Nahuatl and, as their mother tongue, some other indigenous language. A
   famous example of bilingualism was Malintzin ("La Malinche"), the
   native woman who translated between Nahuatl and a Mayan language (and
   who later learned Spanish as well) for Hernán Cortés.

   There are an estimated 1.5 million people who speak one or another
   Nahuatl dialect, some of these dialects being mutually unintelligible.
   All of these dialects show influence from the Spanish language to
   various degrees, some of them much more than others. No modern dialects
   are identical with Classical Nahuatl, but those spoken in and around
   the Valley of Mexico are generally more closely related to it than are
   peripheral ones.

   Often the term Nahuatl is used specifically with reference to Classical
   Nahuatl, the administrative language of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs
   were preceded by, and surrounded by, other Nahuatl-speaking cultures,
   whose language certainly differed in some degree from theirs. These
   include the Tepaneca, Acolhua, Tlaxcalteca, and Xochimilca; and Nahuatl
   was perhaps one of the languages spoken in Teotihuacan. As these groups
   became predominant, Nahuatl, and especially Classical Nahuatl after the
   ascendancy of the Aztec empire, was used as a lingua franca in much of
   Mesoamerica beginning from the 12th century AD until the 16th century,
   at which time its prominence and influence were eclipsed by the Spanish
   conquest of Mexico. Since we only have documentation available from
   that point on, and since the Spanish dealt especially with the Mexica
   in their administrative, religious and scholarly activities, Classical
   Nahuatl is for us the most available, as well as the most prestigious,
   early form of the language.

Geographic distribution

   Distribution of Nahuatl speakers per state.
   Enlarge
   Distribution of Nahuatl speakers per state.

   A range of Nahuatl dialects are currently spoken in an area stretching
   from the northern Mexican state of Durango to Tabasco in the south.
   Pipil, a Nahuatl dialect which happens to have its own name, is spoken
   as far south as El Salvador, by fewer than twenty speakers if it is not
   already extinct. Another Nahuan language, Pochutec, was spoken on the
   coast of Oaxaca until circa 1930. The largest concentrations of Nahuatl
   speakers are found in the states of Puebla, Veracruz, Guerrero and
   Hidalgo. Significant populations are also found in México State,
   Morelos, and the Mexican Federal District. Smaller populations exist in
   Michoacán, Jalisco, Tabasco, and Durango.

   It is likely that the speakers of Nahuatl languages originally came
   from the northern Mexican deserts and migrated into central Mexico in
   several waves. One of the last of these waves settled in what is now
   the Valley of Mexico and later founded what came to be known as the
   Aztec empire. During this period, if not before, Nahuatl became a
   lingua franca, used for trade purposes and as a prestige language in
   large parts of Mesoamerica, and causing the language to spread even
   further. For example, at the time of the Spanish conquest, the K'iche'
   (Mayan) nobility spoke Nahuatl as well as the K'iche' language.

   Currently the influx of Mexican workers into the United States has
   created small Nahuatl-speaking communities in the United States,
   particularly in New York and California.

Classification and terminology

   Sometimes a distinction is made among Nahuan (i.e. languages of the
   Nahuan or Aztecan branch of Uto-Aztecan) languages between Nahuatl
   (variants with the characteristic tl phoneme), Nahuat (variants which
   have t in its place), and Nahual (variants which have l instead).
   Although the classification implied by emphasizing these differences is
   currently not given as much weight as in the past, the terms are still
   used. Sometimes Nahuan is used for the family as a whole; others use
   the term Aztecan for the family, or Nahua for the family and in any
   context where one does not want to specify the tl/t/l differences. Most
   commonly, however, Nahuatl is used as a generic name for the family or
   any variant of it. In many Nahua speaking communities completely
   different names are used for the language, commonly speakers call their
   language "Mexicano" (a term originally used by the Spanish for
   languages related to the language of the Mexica (Aztecs)) or
   "Mācehualli" (meaning "commoners' speech").

   The Nahuatl languages are related to the other Uto-Aztecan languages
   spoken by peoples such as the Hopi, Comanche, Paiute and Ute, Pima,
   Shoshone, Tarahumara, Yaqui, Tepehuán, Huichol and other peoples of
   western North America. They all belong to the Uto-Aztecan linguistic
   family which is one of the largest and best studied language families
   of the Americas consisting of at least 61 individual languages, and
   spoken from the United States to El Salvador. This is a grouping on the
   same order as Indo-European.

Genealogy

     * Uto-Aztecan 5000 BP^*
          + Shoshonean (Northern Uto-Aztecan)
          + Sonoran^**
          + Aztecan 2000 BP (a.k.a. Nahuan)
               o Pochutec — Coast of Oaxaca
               o General Aztec (Nahuatl)
                    # Western periphery
                    # Eastern Periphery
                    # Huasteca
                    # Centre

   See the Nahuatl dialects page for further discussion of the
   sub-categories of General Aztec, which are somewhat controversial.

          ^*Estimated split date by glottochronology (BP = Before the
          Present).
          ^**Some scholars continue to classify Aztecan and Sonoran
          together under a separate group (called variously "Sonoran",
          "Mexican", or "Southern Uto-Aztecan"). There is increasing
          evidence that whatever degree of additional resemblance there
          might be between Aztecan and Sonoran when compared with
          Shoshonean is probably due to proximity contact, rather than to
          a common immediate parent stock other than Uto-Aztecan.

Linguistic Prehistory

   In his 2001 article Terrence Kaufman examines the linguistic prehistory
   of the Nahuan languages. He argues that knowledge about the migrations
   and splits within the Nahuan group of the Uto-Aztecan languages can be
   deduced from a thorough study of traces of language contact between the
   Nahuan languages and other Mesoamerican languages. He documents early
   loanwords and grammatical influences in all the Nahuan languages from
   Mixe-Zoquean languages and from Totonacan. This leads him to postulate
   that Nahuan migrants must have been subject to influence from dominant
   cultures speaking these languages before they first split up. He
   documents influence from the Wastek language in the Nahuatl dialects of
   la Sierra Huasteca.

Phonology of Nahuan languages

Historical phonological changes

   The Nahuan subgroup of Uto-Aztecan is classified partly by a number of
   shared phonological changes from reconstructed proto-Uto-Aztecan to the
   attested Nahuan languages. The changes shared between the Nahuan
   languages are the basis for the reconstruction of the intermediate
   stage of proto-Nahuan. Some of these changes shared by all Nahuan
   languages are:
     * Proto-Uto-aztecan *t becomes Proto-Nahuan lateral affricate *tl
       before proto-Uto-aztecan *a
     * Proto-Uto-aztecan initial *p is lost in Proto-Nahuan.
     * Proto-Uto-aztecan *u merges with *i into Proto-Nahuan *i
     * Proto-Uto-aztecan sibilants *ts and *s split into *ts, *ch and *s,
       *ʃ respectively.
     * Proto-Uto-aztecan fifth vowel reconstructed as *ɨ or *ə merged with
       *e into proto-Nahuan *e
     * a large number of metatheses in which Proto-Uto-aztecan roots of
       the shape *CVCV have become *VCCV.

   The table below presents some of the changes that are reconstructed
   from proto-Uto-aztecan to proto-Nahuan.

   Table of reconstructed changes from proto-Uto-aztecan to proto-Nahuan
   PUA             proto-Nahuan
   *ta:ka "man"    *tla:ka-tla "man"
   *pahi "water"   *a:-tla "water"
   *muki "to die"  *miki "to die
   *pu:li "to tie" *ilpi "to tie"
   *nɨmi "to walk" *nemi "to live, to walk"

   From the changes common to all Nahuan languages the subgroup has
   diversified somewhat and giving a complete overview of the phonologies
   of Nahuan languages is not suitable here. However, the table below
   shows a standardised phonemic inventory based on the inventory of
   Classical Nahuatl. Many modern dialects have undergone changes from
   proto-Nahuan that have resulted in different phonemic inventories.

Consonants

   Table of Nahuatl consonants
                Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar  Glottal
   Stops        p      t                k / kʷ ʔ
   Fricatives          s        ʃ
   Affricates           tɬ / ts tʃ
   Approximants w      l        j
   Nasals       m      n

Vowels

   Table of Nahuatl vowels
        front      central    back
        long short long short long short
   high iː   i
   mid  eː   e                oː   o
   low             aː   a

Grammar

   The Nahuatl languages are agglutinative, polysynthetic languages that
   make extensive use of compounding, incorporation and derivation. That
   is, they can add many different prefixes and suffixes to a root until
   very long words are formed. Very long verbal forms or nouns created
   through incorporation and accumulation of prefixes are not uncommon in
   literary works. This also means that new words can be created at a
   moment's notice.

   A minority of linguists consider the typology of Nahuatl to be
   oligosynthetic. This was first proposed by Benjamin Whorf in the early
   20th Century. However, by the mid- 1950s, this view was largely
   dismissed by the linguistic community.

Vocabulary

   Lizard, snake, death day pictographs on a Stone of the Sun
   Enlarge
   Lizard, snake, death day pictographs on a Stone of the Sun

Words loaned to other languages

   Many Nahuatl words have been borrowed into the Spanish language, many
   of which are terms designating things indigenous to the American
   continent. Some of these loans are restricted to Mexican or Central
   American Spanish, but others have entered all the varieties of Spanish
   in the world and a number of them, such as "chocolate", "tomato" and
   "avocado" have made their way into many other languages via Spanish.
   For example because of extensive Mexican-Philippine contacts in the
   colonial history, there are an estimated 250 words of Nahuatl origin in
   the Tagalog language. Likewise a number of English words have been
   borrowed from Nahuatl through Spanish. Two of the most prominent are
   undoubtedly chocolate (from xocolātl, 'chocolate drink', perhaps
   literally 'bitter-water') and tomato (from (xi)tomatl). But there are
   others, such as coyote (coyotl), avocado (ahuacatl) and chile or chili
   (chilli). The brand name Chiclets is also derived from Nahuatl (tzictli
   'sticky stuff, chicle'). Other English words from Náhuatl are: Aztec,
   (aztecatl); cacao (cacahuatl 'shell, rind'); mesquite (mizquitl);
   ocelot (ocelotl).

   Many well-known toponyms also come from Nahuatl, including Mexico
   (mexihco) and Guatemala (cuauhtēmallan).

   In Mexico many words for common everyday concepts attest to the close
   contact between Spanish and Nahuatl:

          achiote, aguacate, ajolote, amate, atole, axolotl, ayate,
          cacahuate, camote, capulín, chapopote, chayote, chicle, chile,
          chipotle, chocolate, cuate, comal, copal, coyote, ejote, elote,
          epazote, escuincle, guacamole, guajolote, huipil, huitlacoche,
          hule, jícama, jícara, jitomate, malacate, mecate, metate,
          metlapil, mezcal, mezquite, milpa, mitote, molcajete, mole,
          nopal, ocelote, ocote, olote, paliacate, papalote, pepenar,
          petate, peyote, pinole, popote, pozole, quetzal, tamal,
          tianguis, tomate, zacate, zapote, zopilote.

   (The persistent -te or -le endings on these words are Spanish reflexes
   of the Nahuatl 'absolutive' ending -tl, -tli, or -li, which appears on
   (most) nouns when they are not possessed or in the plural.)

Writing systems

   At the time of the Spanish conquest, Aztec writing used mostly
   pictographs supplemented by a few ideograms. When needed, it also used
   syllabic equivalences; Father Durán recorded how the tlacuilos (codex
   painters) could render a prayer in Latin using this system, but it was
   difficult to use. This writing system was adequate for keeping such
   records as genealogies, astronomical information, and tribute lists,
   but could not represent a full vocabulary of spoken language in the way
   that the writing systems of the old world or of the Maya civilization
   could. The Aztec writing was not meant to be read, but to be told; the
   elaborate codices were essentially pictographic aids for teaching, and
   long texts were memorized.

   The Spanish introduced the Roman script, which was then utilized to
   record a large body of Aztec prose and poetry, a fact which somewhat
   mitigated the devastating loss of the thousands of Aztec manuscripts
   which were burned by the Spanish. (See Nahuatl transcription and Aztec
   codices.) Important lexical works (e.g. Molina's classic Vocabulario of
   1571) and grammatical descriptions (of which Carochi's 1645 Arte is
   generally acknowledged the best) were produced using variations of this
   orthography.

   The classical orthography was not perfect, and in fact there were many
   variations in how it was applied, due in part to dialectal differences
   and in part to differing traditions and preferences that developed.
   (The writing of Spanish itself was far from totally standardized at the
   time.) Today, although almost all written Nahuatl uses some form of
   Latin-based orthography, there continue to be strong dialectal
   differences, and considerable debate and differing practices regarding
   how to write sounds even when they are the same. Major issues are
     * whether to follow Spanish in writing the /k/ sound sometimes as c
       and sometimes as qu or just to use k
     * how to write /kʷ/
     * what to do about /w/, the realization of which varies considerably
       from place to place and even within a single dialect
     * how to write the "saltillo", phonetically a glottal stop ([ʔ]) or
       an [h], which has been spelled with j, h, and a straight apostrophe
       ('), but which traditionally was often omitted in writing.

   There are a number of other issues as well, such as
     * whether and how to represent vowel length
     * how and whether to represent sound variants (allophones) which
       sound like different Spanish sounds [phonemes], especially variants
       of o which come close to u
     * to what extent writing in one variant should be adapted towards
       what is used in other variants.

   The Secretaría de Educación Pública (Ministry of Public Education) has
   adopted an alphabet for its bilingual education programs in rural
   communities in Mexico in which k is used and /w/ is written as u, and
   this decision has been influential. The recently established (2004) "
   Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas" ( INALI) will also be involved
   in these issues.
   The Aztec world
   Aztec society

   Nahuatl language
   Aztec philosophy
   Aztec calendar
   Aztec religion
   Aztec mythology
   Aztec entheogenic complex
   Human sacrifice in Aztec culture
   Aztec history

   Aztlán
   Aztec army
   Aztec codices
   Aztec Triple Alliance
   Spanish conquest of Mexico
   Siege of Tenochtitlan
   La Noche Triste
   Hernán Cortés
   Hueyi Tlatoani

   Tenoch ( 1325– 1376)
   Acamapichtli ( 1376– 1395)
   Huitzilíhuitl ( 1395– 1417)
   Chimalpopoca ( 1417– 1427)
   Itzcóatl ( 1427– 1440)
   Moctezuma I ( 1440– 1469)
   Axayacatl ( 1469– 1481)
   Tízoc ( 1481– 1486)
   Auítzotl ( 1486– 1502)
   Moctezuma II ( 1502– 1520)
   Cuitláhuac ( 1520)
   Cuauhtémoc ( 1520– 1521)

Literature

   Nahuatl literature is extensive (probably the most extensive of all
   Indigenous languages of the Americas), including a relatively large
   corpus of poetry (see also Nezahualcoyotl); the Huei tlamahuiçoltica is
   an example of literary Nahuatl from the seventeenth century. Examples
   from the time immediately following the conquest include at least one
   census from the 1540s. The two largest collections of poetry, the
   Cantares mexicanos and the Romances de los señores de la Nueva España,
   were in all likelihood copied down in the 1560s or somewhat later. The
   mammoth encyclopedia of Aztec culture known as the Florentine Codex was
   compiled by the Franciscan Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, with the
   assistance of tri-lingual students from the Colegio de Santacruz
   Tlatelolco at about the same time. A large dictionary of the classical
   nahuatl language was compiled by fray the bilingual Alonso de Molina
   and published in 1555. Several grammars of the nahuatl language was
   published during colonial times, the most influential of which were
   written by Horacio Carochi in 1648 and another earlier one by Fray
   Andrés de Olmos.
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