Map showing the areas of Mexico where Nahuatl dialects are spoken today (red) and where it is known to have been spoken historically (green)[1]
The Nahuan or Aztecan languages are those languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family that have undergone a sound change, known as Whorf's law, that changed an original *t to /tɬ/ before *a.[2] Subsequently, some Nahuan languages have changed this /tɬ/ to /l/ or back to /t/, but it can still be seen that the language went through a /tɬ/ stage.[3] The best known Nahuan language is Nahuatl. 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 Mexican government recognizes thirty varieties that are spoken in Mexico as languages (see the list below).
Researchers distinguish between several dialect areas that each have a number of shared features: One classification scheme distinguishes innovative central dialects, spoken around Mexico City, from conservative peripheral ones spoken north, south and east of the central area, while another scheme distinguishes a basic split between western and eastern dialects. Nahuan languages include not just varieties known as Nahuatl, but also Pipil and the extinct Pochutec language.
^Based on Lastra de Suárez 1986; Fowler 1985.
^Whorf, Benjamin Lee (1937). "The origin of Aztec tl". American Anthropologist. 39 (2): 265–274. doi:10.1525/aa.1937.39.2.02a00070.
^Campbell, Lyle; Ronald Langacker (1978). "Proto-Aztecan vowels: Part I". International Journal of American Linguistics. 44 (2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 85–102. doi:10.1086/465526. OCLC 1753556. S2CID 143091460.
^"Variantes lingüísticas por grado de riesgo" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas.
The Nahuan or Aztecan languages are those languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family that have undergone a sound change, known as Whorf's law, that...
group of separate languages, the varieties form a single branch within the Uto-Aztecan family, descended from a single Proto-Nahuanlanguage. Within Mexico...
was largely displaced by Spanish and evolved into some of the modern Nahuanlanguages in use today (other modern dialects descend more directly from other...
for example for the Mixtecan, Zapotecan and Nahuan linguistic groups, which all contain distinct languages that are nonetheless referred to by a single...
Nawat (academically Pipil, also known as Nahuat) is a Nahuanlanguage native to Central America. It is the southernmost extant member of the Uto-Aztecan...
this family. Later, some Nahuanlanguages have changed this /tɬ/ to /l/ or back to /t/, but it can still be seen that the language went through a /tɬ/ stage...
Proto-Nahuanlanguages emerged around 500 CE and were in contact with the Corachol languages, including the Cora language and Huichol language as its...
branch: Cora and Huichol Nahuan branch: Nahuatl, Nahuan dialects Na-Dene languages: Lipan, Mezcalero, Chiricahua, Western Apache Language families with all known...
Pochutec is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language of the Nahuan (or Aztecan) branch which was spoken in and around the town of Pochutla on the Pacific coast...
with the Caribbean Indians (Amerindians, who had diverse languages called Caribbean languages), thus originated the black Caribs who dominated the Island...
extinct languages: Nahuat The Nahuat language was spoken on the Atlantic coast, mainly in Rivas Department, by the Nicarao people. It is a Nahuanlanguage, closely...
the Nawat language, which belongs to the Nahuanlanguage branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. There are very few speakers of the language left, which...
Huasteca Nahuatl is a Nahuanlanguage spoken by over a million people in the region of La Huasteca in Mexico, centered in the states of Hidalgo (Eastern)...
Mexicanero is the Nahuanlanguage spoken by the Mexicanero people of southern Durango and northern Nayarit. It has around 1000 speakers in the remote...
express the phrase "we two's many houses" in one word[1]. Mayan languages and Nahuanlanguages also have possessive prefixes. Finnish uses possessive suffixes...
many groups that did not necessarily share a common identity. Their Nahuanlanguages, or Nahuatl, consist of many variants, several of which are mutually...
The Guerrero Nahuatl language is a Nahuanlanguage spoken by about 125,000 people in Mexico. It is also known as Guerrero Aztec and Náhuatl de Guerrero...
the branch of the Uto-Aztecan languages (also sometimes called the Uto-Nahuanlanguages) that includes the Nahuatl language and its closest relatives Pochutec...
moribund Nahuanlanguage spoken in Cupilco in the Mexican state of Tabasco. The language belongs to the eastern branch of the Nahuanlanguage family, and...
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