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Month: December 2010

¡Xijyeko nawatl! – The Alphabet

Mashkioya Leave a comment

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

Hymn of the Week – Sagrado es el amor

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We sang this hymn (the Spanish version of “Blest Be the Tie That Binds”) with the church at Lejem in the Huasteca Potosina this past week. I thought it was very appropriate, as we were Christian family, even though this was the first time I had met many of them.

Sagrado es el amor
Que nos ha unido aquí,
A los que creemos del Señor
La voz que llama a sí.

A nuestro Padre Dios
Roguemos con fervor,
Alúmbrenos la misma luz,
Nos una el mismo amor.

Nos vamos a ausentar,
Mas nuestra firme unión
Jamás podráse quebrantar,
Por la separación.

Un día en la eternidad
Nos hemos de reunir,
Que Dios nos lo conceda, hará,
El férvido pedir.