HOW DO YOU SAY YOUR NAME IN NAHUATL? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

In Nahuatl, "What's your name?" it is said what motoka? Nahuatl continues to be the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico today, with more than 1.8 million speakers according to Mexican government censuses in 2015.

Before the arrival of the European conquerors to the new world, it was the common language of the Mesoamerican region. Nahuatl is a language with many varieties belonging to the Yuto-Nahua family and native to Mexico.

It is considered as a macrolanguage, since it contains numerous variants that, however, are grouped under the same dialect form. It arose during the 5th century in the area that includes Mesoamerica.

History and origin of the Nahuatl language

The first peoples to speak Nahuatl were located in the Valley of Mexico in approximately the 5th century.

It is believed that they came from Michoacán and Jalisco, where at the beginning of the millennium this language would have been created.

Expansion

Starting in the 10th century, there was a great migration of the inhabitants of Mexico to the south. This event is believed to have been instrumental in helping the language spread across the nation.

Several investigations suggest that it was the language spoken in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the ancient Mexica Empire.

In 1325 with the founding of México-Tenochtitlan, Nahuatl was not imposed on all the territories part of the Mexica Empire, but despite this it was adapted over time.

Thanks to this it gave rise to many variants and dialects technically different, but understandable to each other.

On the other hand, in the capital of the Empire, the use and learning of the language was strongly encouraged, with numerous schools and academies emerging to teach children to speak, recite and sing Nahuatl correctly.

Influence on Spanish

The arrival of the Spaniards was a language shock, since at that time practically all the inhabitants of Mexico spoke some variant of Nahuatl. This gave rise to the appearance of Nahuatlatos (Translators).

For this reason, the Spanish of Mexico is considered one of the most idiomically rich Spanish variants, since it is strongly influenced by the indigenous native language.

Many common words within the Mexican vocabulary such as atole, pozole or tecolote, are typical of Nahuatl.

This influence is not limited to Spanish in Mexico but worldwide. Words like chocolate, tomato or guacamole, also have their origin in the mentioned indigenous language.

This has the characteristic of having very literal words, for example guacamole means avocado sauce.

Variants of Nahuatl

As a macrolanguage, Nahuatl is a grouping of many different variants and dialects. Within these variations it is possible to find:

- Classical Nahuatl.

- Central Nahuatl.

- Nahuatl pipil.

- Nahuatl of Durango.

- Nahuatl for warrior.

- Nahuatl of the Huasteca.

- Nahuatl of Morelos.

- Nahuatl of the West.

- Nahuatl from Tlaxcala.

- Nahuatl of the isthmus.

- Nahuatl from the north of Puebla.

- Nahuatl from southern Puebla.

Nahuatl today

Today more than 1.8 people speak Nahuatl. 90% of this population also speaks the Spanish language.

Naturally, the bulk of the nearly 2 million people who speak Nahuatl are in Mexico. However, they are also located in areas south of the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

References

1. Classical Nahuatl (nd). Retrieved on September 17, 2017, from Encyclopædia Britannica.
2. John P. Schmal (2004). The Náhuatl Language in Mexico. Retrieved on September 17, 2017, from Houston Culture.
3. Nahua (nd). Retrieved on September 17, 2017, from Epic World History.
4. Linguistic grouping: Nahuatl (sf). Retrieved on September 17, 2017, from Gob.mx.
5. Miguel León-Portilla (sf) Nahuatl: language and culture with millenary roots. Retrieved on September 17, 2017, from Arqueología Mexicana.