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Concept
Nahuas
Summary
The Nahuas (ˈnɑ:wɑ:z) are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, and the Toltecs are often thought to have been as well, though in the pre-Columbian period Nahuas were subdivided into many groups that did not necessarily share a common identity.
Their Nahuan languages, or Nahuatl, consist of many variants, several of which are mutually unintelligible. About 1.5 million Nahuas speak Nahuatl and another million speak only Spanish. Fewer than 1,000 native speakers of Nahuatl remain in El Salvador.
It is suggested that the Nahua peoples originated near Aridoamerica, in regions of the present day Mexican states of Durango and Nayarit or the Bajío region. They split off from the other Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples and migrated into central Mexico around 500 CE. The Nahua then settled in and around the Basin of Mexico and spread out to become the dominant people in central Mexico. However, Nahuatl-speaking populations were present in smaller populations throughout Mesoamerica.
The name Nahua is derived from the Nahuatl word-root nāhua- ˈnaːwa-, which generally means "audible, intelligible, clear" with different derivations including "language" (hence nāhuat(i) ˈnaːwat(i) "to speak clearly" and nāhuatl ˈnaːwat͡ɬ both "something that makes an agreeble sound" and "someone who speaks well or speak one's own language"). It was used in contrast with popoloca popoˈloka, "to speak unintelligibly" or "speak a foreign language". Another, related term is Nāhuatlācatl naːwaˈt͡ɬaːkat͡ɬ (singular) or Nāhuatlācah naːwaˈt͡ɬaːkaʔ (plural) literally "Nahuatl-speaking people".
The Nahuas are also sometimes referred to as Aztecs. Using this term for the Nahuas has generally fallen out of favor in scholarship, though it is still used for the Aztec Empire. They have also been called Mēxihcatl meːˈʃiʔkat͡ɬ (singular), Mēxihcah meːˈʃiʔkaʔ (plural) or in Spanish Mexicano(s) mexiˈkano(s) "Mexicans", after the Mexica, the Nahua tribe which founded the Aztec Empire.
Official source
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