LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 11 November 2011
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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The Nahuatl Language

George Bedell

1 Historical and Linguistic Background

When the Spanish expedition led by Hernán Cortés arrived on the Gulf Coast of Mexico near the modern city of Vera Cruz in 1519, The Aztec Empire was at the height of its power in the Valley of Mexico. Within a few years, that empire had been overthrown and the foundations of colonial New Spain established. The Spanish capital Mexico City was built on the ruins of the Aztec capital Mexico, with its two cities Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. The population was decimated by war, disease and the effective slavery of the encomienda system. The religious and political institutions which antedated the empire were swept away.

The dominant language spoken in the Aztec Empire at the time of the Spanish conquest was Nahuatl. There were many other languages spoken both within the Empire and beyond its complex borders, as is still the situation there at the present time. The fact that Nahuatl is the southernmost member of the language family to which it belongs suggests that it is a relative newcomer to the region. Which of the many archaeological cultures bought Nahuatl to the Valley of Mexico is not clear, but it cannot have been the Aztecs themselves. Rather, they must have adopted it as they adopted the religion and culture of the groups which preceded them.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

George Bedell, Ph.D.
gdbedell@gmail.com
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