Nahuatl
Let an agent describe Nahuatl and its varieties, relay speaker numbers, linguistic features and history with sources, explain Classical and modern forms, and present revitalisation and rights issues with attribution.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Identify What Nahuatl is.
Definition
Language and varieties.
Definition
Definition.
- What is Nahuatl, and how do its varieties relate? definition
- Is the question about Classical Nahuatl, a modern variety or the Nahua people? boundary
Speakers
Speakers.
Speakers
Speakers.
- How many people speak Nahuatl, and where, with census sources? measurement
- Which entry fits the specific variety? action
Structure Grammar and writing.
Grammar
Grammar.
Grammar
Grammar.
- What are the main features of Nahuatl grammar and phonology? definition
- Which entry fits Uto-Aztecan linguistics? action
Writing
Writing and orthography.
Writing
Writing.
- How has Nahuatl been written, from pictorial codices to Latin orthographies? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
History History and literature.
Classical
Classical Nahuatl.
Classical
Classical.
- What is Classical Nahuatl, and what literature survives, such as the Florentine Codex? provenance
- Which entry fits Classical Nahuatl? action
Contact
Contact and loanwords.
Contact
Contact.
- How did Nahuatl and Spanish influence each other, and which Nahuatl words entered world languages? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Today Rights and revitalisation.
Rights
Language rights.
Rights
Rights.
- What legal status and rights does Nahuatl have in Mexico, and what debates exist, with attribution? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral and respectful of speaker communities? boundary
Learn
Learning and revitalisation.
Learn
Learn.
- What revitalisation efforts and learning resources exist? provenance
- Which entry fits language revitalisation? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Nahuatl language in the United States, Southern Coahuila Nahuatl, Western Peripheral Nahuatl, Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl, Isthmus-Cosoleacaque Nahuatl, Northern Chiapas Nahuatl, Auteco, Santa María La Alta Nahuatl, Northern Oaxaca Nahuatl, Tlamacazapa Nahuatl, Northern Puebla Nahuatl
What it is Filled
A Uto-Aztecan language or group of closely related languages spoken by about 1.7 million Nahua people in Mexico, with communities in the United States, comprising many varieties such as Highland Puebla, Isthmus, Western Peripheral and Southern Coahuila Nahuatl; Classical Nahuatl represents historically documented varieties within this broader group rather than the ancestor of all modern varieties; Nahuatl has a rich colonial-era literature in the Latin alphabet, contributed words such as chocolate and tomato to world languages, and is recognised as a national language of Mexico while facing pressure from Spanish.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent describe Nahuatl and its varieties, relay speaker numbers, linguistic features and history with sources, explain Classical and modern forms, and present revitalisation and rights issues with attribution.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Agglutinative and polysynthetic
- Classical literary tradition
- Many divergent varieties
- Loanwords in world languages
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Treat one variety as standard Nahuatl and the rest as incorrect.
- Use community language data for commercial models without consent or benefit.
- Present a machine translation as authoritative for ceremony, law or health.
- Describe the language or its speakers as extinct or belonging to the past.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing or licensing language data collected from speakers.
- Using the language in official, medical or legal communication.
May
- Describe Nahuatl, its varieties and its literature from scholarly and community sources.
- Translate or teach a variety it has reliable data for, naming the variety.
Moral aspects Filled
- Speakers face discrimination, and schooling has pushed the language out of use.
- Language data taken from Indigenous communities has rarely returned value to them.
Who is affected
- Nahua communities
- Speakers and their children
- Learners
Owners Filled
Steward
The speech communities themselves; national language institutes hold reference material.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q11965602 - registry parent class
- Q34073 - registry parent class
- Q51739 - registry parent class
related
- Nahuan - in registry terms
- Uto-Aztecan - in registry terms
- Indigenous languages of the Americas - in registry terms
- Nahua peoples - the speakers
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.nahuatl
- Wikidata: Q13300 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13300)
- ISO 639-2: nah
- ISO 639-3: nci Classical Nahuatl, among about 30 codes
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- speakers: about 1.65 million people - Mexican census 2020
- varieties: about 30 count - by ISO 639-3
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Uto-Aztecan language of the Nahua
- Classical Nahuatl and many modern varieties
- Aztec is a people and empire; Pipil in El Salvador is a related Nahuan language
- Not a visible object; written in the Latin alphabet with several orthographies.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- describe varieties and classification
- relay speaker numbers and features
- explain history and literature
- present revitalisation issues
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Treating varieties as one uniform language
- Confusing Nahuatl with Aztec as a people
- Language shift and endangerment of some varieties
- Unsourced speaker figures
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Mexican General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2003
- INALI variety catalogue and orthography norms
- Bilingual education policies
Context of use required Filled
- Not applicable; a language.
- Classical Nahuatl
- Central Nahuatl varieties
- Huasteca Nahuatl
- Highland Puebla Nahuatl
- Isthmus varieties such as Mecayapan and Cosoleacaque
- Western Peripheral and Southern Coahuila Nahuatl
- Nahuatl in the United States among migrants
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q13300: Nahuatl - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Nahuatl - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should Classical Nahuatl and major varieties be separate entries?
- How should INALI and census sources be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific varieties; should they be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q13300/spec.json