Linguistic Analysis
Research Paper
English 420-Fall 2012
Instructor: Prof. Dr. Buckhard Mohr

Savannah Ritchey

A Typological Description of Classical Nahuatl

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - DOMINGUEZ HILLS
Savannah Ritchey
English 420
Fall 2012

A Typological Description of Classical Nahuatl

This paper will attempt to describe the typological classification of Classical Nahuatl, a member of Uto-Aztecan branch of the Central Amerind family. Classical Nahuatl (also known as Aztec, and simply Nahuatl) is any of the variants of the Nahuatl language that were spoken in the Valley of Mexico and central Mexico at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico. Classical Nahuatl was the Nahuatl language spoken by the Mexica (Aztecs) of Mexico-Tenochtitlan (the heart of modern Mexico City) in the days of the Aztec Empire. Although the Empire was relatively short lived (about one century), it had great social, political and cultural influence in Mesoamerica (the region stretching from central México down into Central America), and so this variant of Nahuatl was enormously influential, especially over the other Nahuatl dialects it came in contact with. The Aztec empire actually was a successor to other influential Nahuatl-speaking civilizations, including those of Teotihuacan, Tollan (the Toltecs), and Tetzcoco. At the time of contact with the Spanish, Classical Nahuatl functioned as a lingua franca for other non-Nahuatl-speaking ethnic groups. It is also particularly important to scholars because it is the earliest form of Nahuatl in which there are written documents and of which there exists contemporary descriptions. During the subsequent centuries it was largely displaced by the Spanish and evolved into some of the modern Nahuatl dialects in use today (other modern dialects descend more directly from other 16th-century variants.) Although classified as an extinct language, Classical Nahuatl has survived through a multitude of written sources transcribed by Nahuas and Spaniards in the Latin script. Linguistically speaking, Classical Nahuatl is an Agglutinative language comprised of many morphemes which combine together to form meaningful sentences in the form of very long words. It is considered highly iconic for this reason.
Phonological Typology
Classical Nahuatl Vowel Inventory

FRONT

CENTRAL

BACK

LONG
SHORT
LONG
SHORT
LONG
SHORT
HIGH i: i

MID e: e

o: o LOW

a: a Universals 1: All languages have at least three vowels/i, u, a/