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Introductory Náhuatl Guide

Introductory Náhuatl Guide

Speaking Nahuatl

For an excellent basic introductory guide to speaking Náhuatl click on the PDF icon below... This guide was produced in Mexico by (and our thanks to) Marical Camilo Ayala and Dustin De Felice.

On this page we’ve added some useful external site links for those that want to take their study of Náhuatl to higher levels...!

Cuauhtli

Q.Guess how many syllables the longest word in Náhuatl has that we’ve come across -
A. 24 (and 64 letters)! the word is -
itlaçomahuizÇenquiscatlaçomahuizqualtilispepetlaquilisXayacatzin
Louise Burkhart’s translation is “[his] precious, wondrous, utterly precious, wondrous, good, and shining face” and refers to the face of the newborn baby Jesus. It comes from a Nahuatl drama titled The Three Kings. The reference is from Barry Sell and Louise Burkhart, eds. Nahuatl Theater, Vol. 1, 2004.
Many thanks to Ben Leeming from the University at Albany, USA, for flagging this up...

More about NáhuatlThe meaning of ‘Náhuatl’ itselfWikipedia’s entry on Náhuatl, which includes ‘loanwords’ from Náhuatl in other languagesLearn about a Náhuatl language community project today, in Milpa AltaLong-established online Náhuatl dictioniary IN FRENCHJoe Campbell’s comprehensive list of all Náhuatl words in the Florentine Codex‘Currently the only comprehensive introduction to Nahuatl available in English’Náhuatl food words list by TecpaocelotlThe classic 1892 edition of Carochi’s ‘Arte de la Lengua Mexicana’Dra. Anuschka van´t Hooft’s multimedia website on Nahua language and culture from La HuastecaOnline Nahuatl Dictionary (Oregon University)

Comments (1)

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edward cookman

5th Sep 2008

You might wish to review the English grammar, 3rd person singular, He is, She is, (not are). Thank you for this work, I am living in Mexico and am beginning a study of Nahuatl.

Introductory Náhuatl Guide

Speaking Nahuatl

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