Home > Nahuatl language
Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. It was the lingua franca of Mesoamerica for the millennium spanning from the 7th century through the late 16th century of the current era.Also known as Mexican language, it was the language spoken by the people now known as Aztecs and their predecessors (the Colhua , Tecpanec , Acolhua , and the famous Toltecs in one interpretation of the term). Recently, there have begun to appear more and more suggestions, from several diverse fields of Mesoamerican research, that Nahuatl might have been one of the languages spoken at the legendary Teotihuacan.
Today, the term Nahuatl is frequently used in two different senses which are quickly becoming increasingly incompatible: to mean the Classical Nahuatl language described above (and which is no longer spoken on an everyday basis anywhere), and to mean any of a multitude of live dialects (some of them mutually unintelligible) that are still spoken by at least 1.5 million people in what is now Mexico. All of these dialects show influence from the Spanish language to various degrees, some of them much more than others, but it is important to note that some aspects of the essential nature of the Classical language have been lost in all of them (much as it happened to Classical Latin as it developed into the different Romance languages).
| Nahuatl (Nahuatlahtolli) |
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| Spoken in: | Mexico |
| Region: | Mexico (state), Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo, and GuerreroMexican states ESTADO DE GUERRERO Other Mexican States Capital Chilpancingo Other major cities Acapulco, Taxco, list of municipalities Area64,281 kmē Ranked 14th Population(2000 census)3,075,080 Ranked 11th Governor(1999-2005)Rene Juarez Cisneros ( PRI) F |
| Total speakers: | >1.5 million |
| Ranking: | Not in top 100 |
Genetic
classification: |
Uto-AztecanThe Uto-Aztecan languages are a Native American language family. The Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the western United States ( Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California, Nevada, Arizona), through Mexico south to El Salvador. Utah is named
Southern Uto-Aztecan
Aztecan
Nahuatl
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| Official status |
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| Official language of: | Mexico |
| Language codes |
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| ISO 639-2: | nah |
1 Linguistic Summary
1.1 English loans
Nahuatl has provided English with some words for indigenous animals, fruits, vegetables, and tools:
- " atlatlThe atlatl is a weapon that uses leverage to achieve greater speed in spear-throwing. It consists of a shaft with a hook, in which the butt of the spear rests. It is held near the far end from the cup, and the spear is thrown by action of upper arm and wr", " avocadoThe avocado is a tree and the fruit of that tree Persea americana in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is a tree to 20 m tall, with alternately arranged evergreen leaves 12-25 cm long. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 5-10 mm wide.", " axolotlAxolotl Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Lissamphibia Order: Caudata Family: Ambystomatidae Genus Ambystoma Species mexicanum Binomial name Ambystoma mexicanum ( Shaw, 1789) The Axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum the colloquial", " chocolate", " cocoa", " cacao", " coyote", " ocelot", " peyote", " tomato", " tequila", " chil(l)i", " chiclet".
see also: List of English words of Native American origin
