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Category: Nahuatl

¡Xijyeko nawatl! – The Alphabet

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Welcome to the Nahuatl language! This is to be the first in a series of posts on the basics of Nahuatl; a simple effort to make available what I’ve learned since I started studying this language, as there is relatively little information available on the subject, on or off line. I will begin with the alphabet.

Now, the Aztecs had a writing system in place before the Spaniards arrived in North America, but this was not a true phonetic system, and was mainly used to help the reader along with an oration that had already been memorized. When the Spaniards arrived, they brought with them the Roman alphabet, and it wasn’t long before people started using it to write Nahuatl. It worked surprisingly well, but as Spanish was established as the language of New Spain, it never really caught on, and to this day Nahuatl is primarily an oral language.

But the Roman alphabet still works well with Nahuatl, and in the rare case that it is written, it is done with the Roman alphabet. Read More

Back from Mexico

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I have returned from the land of banana trees and iridescent butterflies, the land of the Huastec and Nahuatl-speaking Indians, and I am happy to report that the trip went very well, and that my father and I have returned home safely. If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’ll surely know that there’s quite a bit of conflict going on along the border of Mexico right now, and although we did see some drug cartel members along the highway in northern Tamaulipas, we got past unscathed, knowing that God was with us the whole time (although it is rather disturbing to see people with guns in Mexico who are neither military or police). As for the Huasteca Potosina, the area where we spent the week, things are much more peaceful there.

As always, a week was not enough, but I was just thankful that I was able to return there again after two and a half years absence. It was a time of renewing old friendships and making new ones, and I was also able to practice speaking Nahuatl. Most of my attempts at carrying on a conversation ended when the person with whom I was speaking uttered a sentence that went past my ears uncomprehended, and then I would resort to Spanish. I probably could have done better, but I am pleased with my progress, and of course everyone was tickled pink that I was learning their language. The Huastec dialect remains a mystery to me, but as we met a good number of Huastec people on this trip, they endeavoured to teach me some of their language as well. It is a Mayan language, entirely different from Nahuatl, and it has a very unique sound, full of glottal stops and ejective consonants. Read More

Current Language Mission – Nahuatl

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Fall at the Bruce FarmGreetings, faithful readers! I have returned to my native continent, and I decided just now to take the time to write up a real live blog post. You see, those photos and short posts from Europe did not freely flow from the fount of creativity, but were the result of assigned writing for one of my classes. This did not detract from their quality entirely; some were quite good in my own estimation, but others were a little forced, and would have gone unwritten were they not assigned. For these latter I apologize, but I hope to improve my habits so that I can have time to write down the things that I am truly inspired by.

At this moment I am currently sitting on a bench next to the driveway at our north-central Texas home. When I left Belgium it was cold and damp, but the fall leaves were lovely. When I arrived home, Autumn was still in the process of putting on her garb, and I am glad to report that she is now fully arrayed in her customary splendour. The leaves are turning all sorts of colours, the prickly pears are laden with bright red tunas, and the evening sunsets top it all off in a great show that mankind can never replicate. Meanwhile, I am preparing for my next travel destination: eastern San Luis Potosí, Mexico–which will prove quite a change from northern Europe. Read More

Kamanalti ika Ikamanal Toteko

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DSC00112I recently received in the mail a certain device called a Proclaimer. It is an electronic device manufactured by Faith Comes By Hearing, an organization dedicated to making God’s Word available in audio form to all the peoples of the world.

I did not buy the device—I had been corresponding with them about the upcoming release of their scripture recording in Western Huasteca Nahuatl (NHW), and when they offered to send me a Proclaimer with this new recording on it, how could I refuse?

The Proclaimer, though made in China of relatively cheap plastic, seems to be a sturdy device. It is designed to play scripture recordings to large groups of people, and is equipped with a solar panel and hand crank to charge the battery when AC electricity is not available. I can see how this would be useful, especially in remote villages such as some I have visited in Mexico.

Although the Proclaimer works well, I am not entirely happy with the recording. Read More

O lingua fortunata!

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Of late I’ve been researching the extant corpus of writings in Etruscan, an ancient language which was spoken in Etruria (modern-day Tuscany), Italy. Etruscan is dead now (its speakers were dissolved into Roman culture long ago), but through the writings these people left behind we do know enough about their language to see that it was definitely not Indo-European, i.e. it was not related to Latin or English or most any other European language. A little is known about its phonology and grammar, but most knowledge of it is lost forever, and although many Etruscan books were written during Classical Antiquity, only one has survived.

This evening I read an online article about Doris McLemore, the last fluent speaker of the Wichita language up in Oklahoma. It really is sad to think how this Native American tongue will be lost when she passes away, but when one looks at history, it is clear that one language supplanting another is nothing new. The ancient Celts of the Iberian peninsula were Romanized years ago, and even before that it is likely that the original Indo-Europeans conquered many people in Europe who had lived there before them. Thus we can see that, although it is certainly lamentable, there will always be languages that are replaced by other, more fortunate tongues.

However, to end on a good note, I should like to remind you that North America is not losing all of its linguistic richness. In my two visits to San Luis Potosi, Mexico, I found the Nahuatl and Huastec languages thriving alongside Spanish, spoken by young and old alike. So, it really is possible to retain your linguistic heritage if you have a mind to.