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|name=Classical Nahuatl |nativename=Nahuatl |familycolor=American |states= Mexico |region= Aztec Empire |extinct= |fam1= Uto-Aztecan |fam2= Southern Uto-Aztecan |fam3= Aztecan |fam4= General Aztec |fam5= Aztec |iso2=nah|iso3=nci}} Classical Nahuatl (also known as '''Aztec''', and simply '''Nahuatl''') is a term used to describe the variants of the Nahuatl Language that were spoken in the valley of Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest Of Mexico and during the subsequent centuries, and which have survived through a multitude of written sources written by Nahuas and Spaniards in the latin alphabet. For modern Nahuatl varietes, see Nahuatl Language . Classification Nahuatl is an Uto-Aztecan Language , related to Hopi , O'odham , and Yaqui , among others. Sounds Vowels Consonants Prosody Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable. The one exception is the Vocative suffix -e, used only by males, where stress falls on the final syllable, e.g. '''Cuāuhtlequetzqui''' (a name, meaning ''"eagle-warrior"),'' but '''Cuāuhtlequetzqué''' ''"Hey, Cuauhtlequetzqui!".'' Phonotactics Unlike English, which allows up to three consonants to occur at the start or end of words (e.g. ''sprints),'' Nahuatl allows only a single consonant at the start or end of a word, and up two consonants within a word. Also, there are restrictions on which consonants can occur where. Grammar See Also: Classical Nahuatl grammar Writing system At the time of the Spanish conquest, Aztec writing used mostly Pictograph s supplemented with a few Ideogram s. When needed it also used syllabic equivalences; Father Durán recorded how the tlacuilos 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 Spanish introduced the Roman script, which was then utilized to record a large body of Aztec prose and poetry, a fact which somewhat diminished the devastating loss caused by the burning of thousands of Aztec manuscripts by the Catholic priests. See Nahuatl Transcription . The writing system introduced by the Spanish, as well as a comprehensive study of Nahuatl grammar, has now become inefficient, as the language has evolved into different dialects, to a certain degree, distinct from the Nahuatl spoken in the fifteenth century. Today, in the bilingual education programms in rural communities in Mexico a new writing system is being used, created by the ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'' (Ministry of Public Education), which allows for differences among dialects. History Literature Nahuatl literature is extensive (probably the most extensive of all Amerindian languages), including a relatively large corpus of Poetry (see also Nezahualcoyotl ); the Nican Mopohua is an excellent early sample of transcribed Nahuatl. Bibliography
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