Stage 5 Aztecs: The Nahua

Study Notes

Nahuatl is an indigenous language spoken by Mesoamerican civilizations, primarily the Aztecs.
Approximately 1.4 million individuals speak Nahuatl, making it the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico.
Around 190,000 Nahuatl speakers do not speak any other language, preserving cultural and linguistic heritage.
In some villages, Nahuatl speakers comprise the majority, maintaining traditional ways of life consistent with ancient Mesoamerican cultures.

Traditional gender roles exist within Nahua families, with men typically engaged in agricultural work and women in skilled crafts such as weaving.
Despite these roles, women are viewed as equals in Nahua society, managing businesses and household responsibilities.
Cooperative community structures dominate Nahua villages, with shared resources to ensure mutual support and well-being.

Many Nahua families derive income from farming and selling produce, often sharing resources within the village.
A group of women in one village established a hotel for tourists, funded by their savings and assistance from the government.
Payments received for their services often include essentials, which are then distributed among community members for free, enhancing communal living.

The Nahuatl language and culture are estimated to be around 5,000 years old, evolving with influences from neighboring cultures.
Influential words from Nahuatl, such as "tomato," "chocolate," "chilli," and "avocado," have integrated into modern languages.
Nahuatl is characterized by its use of compound words, allowing for more descriptive terminology compared to single-word equivalents in English.

The word for metal in Nahuatl is "tepostli," and it can combine with other terms to form more complex descriptors.
Examples include "tepostlicoatl" for a train and "tepostlitototl" for an airplane, showcasing the language's flexibility and descriptive capacity.