LANGUAGES of the AZTEC culture + important

The language or language It is one of the most relevant characteristics of any human group since this ability is what differentiates us of the vast majority of species of living beings on our planet, and it also conditions our day in many ways day. To talk about one of the languages ​​of one of the great empires of history in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about languages ​​of Aztec culture.

Before going into talking about the many languages ​​spoken by the Aztecs, we must briefly talk about the main characteristics of the Aztec culture in order to understand why their language was so important for the cultures of the time and for Mesoamerican culture after the European conquest.

The Aztecs, also called Mexica, were a important Mesoamerican civilization and culture that during the post-classical stage it became a great empire and the predominant culture for many years. Its dominion began in the Valley of Mexico but it extended to many areas of Mesoamerica, its greatest period of splendor being the one that goes from 1300 to 1521.

Like all Mesoamerican cultures, the Aztec also had a series of features that made it unique and similar to the rest, and to know it in depth we must talk about them. Some of the main characteristics of the Aztecs are the following:

• They based their ability to influence military conquest, being a very warrior people.
• Its economic sector was the agricultural, being especially important the cultivation of corn.
• They were polytheists and religion was of great importance on the political scene.
• They performed great tributes to the gods, being very characteristic the human sacrifices and the Mesoamerican ball game.
• It was the Mesoamerican civilization with further expansion territorial.

To talk about the languages ​​of the Aztec culture we must talk about the languages ​​that make up what we call languages Uto-Aztecs, Utonahuasos or Yuto-Aztecs. This is a set of Amerindian languages that we can find in the north and central part of America and among which we can see some of the Aztec languages.

Historically it is possible to speak of 60 Uto-Aztec languagesAlthough the passage of time has ended with many of them, there are only about 20 and not all of them with the same level of relevance or importance. It should be noted that even if your name includes the word Aztec many of these languages ​​were never spoken in the Aztec Empire.

The Uto-Aztec languages can be divided into up to 8 groups, each one of them having very special characteristics. These groups of the Uto-Aztec languages ​​are as follows:

• Numic languages: The southern division of the Uto-Aztec languages, examples being Mono and Paiute.
• Tubatulabal languages: A language almost disappeared, with only a few cases of speakers in southern California.
• Tákic languages: A number of languages ​​exist in California, although their speakers do not exceed one hundred.
• Hopi languages: Of which only one language survives that is also threatened by its drastic reduction in speakers.
• Taracahite languages: The characteristic languages ​​of the Taracahita people of Mexico.
• Tepiman languages: It is a set of languages ​​spoken by the Pimas that extend from Arizona to Durango.
• Corachol languages: A group made up of the Cora and Huichol languages.
• Nahuatl: The Aztec language more important and the one with the most speakers today.

To conclude this lesson on the languages ​​of the Aztec culture, we must talk about the most used languages For these, it is essential to understand the most prevalent ones. There are dozens of languages ​​that were used by the Aztec culture throughout its history, but in this lesson we are going to comment on the most important by their number.

Nahuatl

The Aztec language with the greater number of speakers both today and in the most splendid period of the Aztec civilization. Its influence goes beyond the Aztec limits, being the predominant language of many of the most influential cultures in the history of Mesoamerica, and more after the numerous Aztec conquests. At present there are almost two million speakers of Nahuatl, being without a doubt the predominant pre-Columbian language today.

Otopame

A language that is currently spoken by slightly less than half a million people, but that during the Aztec period it was the second most relevant language, only behind the powerful Nahuatl. At present its linguistic use is basically in the Mexican province of Hidalgo, being the area where it is most important today.

Huasteco

Offspring of the Mayan culture that so much influenced the Aztecs was the most important language of this style for the Mexica. It is very relevant for being the language with Mayan origin farthest from its area of ​​influence, and for being one of the languages ​​that most interested Europeans. Its name comes from the Huasteca culture, being one of the cultures conquered by the Aztecs in their military campaigns.

Totonaco

It is thought that its origin may also be related to the Mayan languages, although there are not enough sources or evidence to prove it. During the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Totonac was spoken both in the Aztec zone and in others further away from its area of ​​influence. There are currently some 250,000 natives of this language, being official in Mexico as an official language of the state.