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Nahuatl (;〔Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh〕 〔The Classical Nahuatl word ' (noun stem ''nāhua'', + absolutive ''-tl'' ) is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl (the standard spelling in the Spanish language),() Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called ''Nahua''.〕), known informally as Aztec,〔 is a language or group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by an estimated Nahua people, most of whom live in Central Mexico. All Nahuan languages are indigenous to Mesoamerica. Nahuatl has been spoken in Central Mexico since at least the 7th century CE. It was the language of the Aztecs who dominated what is now central Mexico during the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerican history. During the centuries preceding the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the Aztec Empire had expanded to incorporate a large part of central Mexico, and its influence caused the variety of Nahuatl spoken by the residents of Tenochtitlan to become a prestige language in Mesoamerica. At the conquest, with the introduction of the Latin alphabet, Nahuatl also became a literary language, and many chronicles, grammars, works of poetry, administrative documents and codices were written in it during the 16th and 17th centuries. This early literary language based on the Tenochtitlan variety has been labeled Classical Nahuatl and is among the most studied and best-documented languages of the Americas. Today Nahuatl varieties〔See Mesoamerican languages#Language vs. Dialect for a discussion on the difference between "languages" and "dialects" in Mesoamerica.〕 are spoken in scattered communities, mostly in rural areas throughout central Mexico and along the coastline. There are considerable differences among varieties, and some are mutually unintelligible. Huasteca Nahuatl, with over 1 million speakers, is the most-spoken variety. They have all been subject to varying degrees of influence from Spanish. No modern Nahuatl languages are identical to Classical Nahuatl, but those spoken in and around the Valley of Mexico are generally more closely related to it than those on the periphery. Under Mexico's ''Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas'' ("General Law on the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples") promulgated in 2003,〔.〕 Nahuatl and the other 63 indigenous languages of Mexico are recognized as ''lenguas nacionales'' ("national languages") in the regions where they are spoken, enjoying the same status as Spanish within their region.〔By the provisions of Article IV: ''Las lenguas indígenas...y el español son lenguas nacionales...y tienen la misma validez en su territorio, localización y contexto en que se hablen.'' ("The indigenous languages...and Spanish are national languages...and have the same validity in their territory, location and context in which they are spoken.")〕 Nahuatl languages exhibit a complex morphology characterized by polysynthesis and agglutination. Through centuries of coexistence with the other indigenous Mesoamerican languages, Nahuatl has absorbed many influences, coming to form part of the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. Many words from Nahuatl have been borrowed into Spanish, and since diffused into hundreds of other languages. Most of these loanwords denote things indigenous to central Mexico which the Spanish heard mentioned for the first time by their Nahuatl names. English words of Nahuatl origin include "avocado", "chayote", "chili", "chocolate", "atlatl", "coyote", "peyote", "axolotl" and "tomato". ==Classification== As a language label the term "Nahuatl" encompasses a group of closely related languages or divergent dialects within the Aztecan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The Mexican Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (National Institute of Indigenous Languages) recognize 30 different individual varieties within the "language group" labeled Nahuatl. The Ethnologue recognizes 28 varieties with separate ISO codes. Sometimes the label also is used to include the Pipil Nawat language of El Salvador. Regardless of whether the Nahuatl is considered to label a dialect continuum or a group of separate languages the varieties so labeled form a single branch within the Uto-Aztecan family, descended from a single Proto-Nahuan language. Within Mexico the question of whether to consider individual varieties to be languages or dialects of a single language is highly political. This article focuses on describing the general history of the group and on giving an overview of the diversity it encompasses. For details on individual varieties or subgroups see the individual articles. In the past, the branch of Uto-Aztecan to which Nahuatl belongs has been called "Aztecan". From the 1990s on, the alternative designation "Nahuan" has been frequently used as a replacement especially in Spanish language publications. The Nahuan (Aztecan) branch of Uto-Aztecan is widely accepted as having two divisions, "General Aztec" and Pochutec.〔, , , 〕 General Aztec encompasses the Nahuatl and Pipil languages.〔"General Aztec is a generally accepted term referring to the most shallow common stage, reconstructed for all present-day Nahuatl varieties; it does not include the Pochutec dialect ." 〕 Pochutec is a scantily attested language which went extinct in the 20th century, and which Campbell and Langacker classify as being outside of general Aztec. Other researchers have argued that Pochutec should be considered a divergent variant of the western periphery.〔, 〕 "Nahuatl" denotes least Classical Nahuatl together with related modern languages spoken in Mexico. The inclusion of Pipil (Nawat) into the group is debated. Lyle classified Pipil as separate from the Nahuatl branch within general Aztecan, whereas dialectologists like Una Canger, Karen Dakin, Yolanda Lastra and Terrence Kaufman have preferred to include Pipil within General Aztecan branch, citing close historical ties with the eastern peripheral dialects of General Aztec.〔, 〕 Current subclassification of Nahuatl rests on research by and . Canger introduced the scheme of a Central grouping and two Peripheral groups, and Lastra confirmed this notion, differing in some details. demonstrated a basic split between Eastern and Western branches of Nahuan, considered to reflect the oldest division of the proto-Nahuan speech community. Canger originally considered the central dialect area to be an innovative subarea within the Western branch, but in 2011 suggested that it arose as an urban koine with features from both Western and Eastern dialect areas. tentatively included dialects of La Huasteca in the Central group, while places them in the Eastern Periphery, which was followed by . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nahuatl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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