Native language of
Mexico.
In the Uzo-Aztecan family of languages, it was the primary spoken language of the Aztec Empire and the inhabitants of Central Mexico before Spanish colonization. It is still the primary language of one million Mexicans and is spoken in various dialects by one quarter of all Native Americans in Mexico. Place names such as Mazatlan, Jalisco, Acapulco, and Mexico are Nahuatl or Nahuatl derived. Words in English that derive from Nahuatl (coming via Spanish):
Pronunce the TL (a
suffix denoting a
singular noun of the root word) as a single
consonant, not an entire
syllable (at least in Classical Nahuatl- the language of the Aztecs documented by Spanish missionaries).