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While Nahuatl is the most commonly used name for the language in English, native speakers often refer to the language as mexicano, or some cognate of the term mācēhualli, meaning 'commoner'. The word Nahuatl is derived from the word nāhuatlahtōlli [naːwat͡ɬaʔˈtoːliˀ] ('clear language'). [32]
The history of the Nahuatl, Aztec or Mexicano language can be traced back to the time when Teotihuacan flourished. From the 4th century AD to the present, the journey and development of the language and its dialect varieties have gone through a large number of periods and processes, the language being used by various peoples, civilizations and ...
This word ending—thought to be difficult for Spanish speakers to pronounce at the time—evolved in Spanish into a "-te" ending (e.g. axolotl = ajolote). As a rule of thumb, a Spanish word for an animal, plant, food or home appliance widely used in Mexico and ending in "-te" is highly likely to have a Nahuatl origin.
Aztec metal axe blades.Prior of the arrival of the European settlers, see: Metallurgy in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica Large ceramic statue of an Aztec eagle warrior. The Nahuatl words aztēcatl (Nahuatl pronunciation: [asˈteːkat͡ɬ], singular) [11] and aztēcah (Nahuatl pronunciation: [asˈteːkaʔ], plural) [11] mean "people from Aztlán", [12] a mythical place of origin for several ethnic ...
Words of Nahuatl origin have entered many European languages. Mainly they have done so via Spanish. Most words of Nahuatl origin end in a form of the Nahuatl "absolutive suffix" (-tl, -tli, or -li, or the Spanish adaptation -te), which marked unpossessed nouns. Achiote (definition) from āchiotl [aːˈt͡ʃiot͡ɬ] Atlatl (definition)
A set of censuses in alphabetic Nahuatl for the Cuernavaca region c. 1535 gives us a baseline for the impact of Spanish on Nahuatl, showing few Spanish loanwords taken into Nahuatl. [ 63 ] As the Spaniards sought to extend their political dominance into the most remote corners of Mesoamerica, the Nahua accompanied them as auxiliaries.
In the states of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Veracruz, Tlaxcala, and Guerrero, the majority of municipalities bear names of Nahuatl origin. That being said, Nahuatl toponyms can currently be found from Sinaloa up to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Various Nahuatl toponyms replaced the names that the Spaniards gave to existing indigenous populations upon ...
Nahuatl is spoken by about 1.7 million Nahua peoples. [4] Some authorities, such as the Mexican government, Ethnologue, and Glottolog, consider the varieties of modern Nahuatl to be distinct languages, because they are often mutually unintelligible, their grammars differ and their speakers have distinct ethnic identities. As of 2008, the ...