Nahuatl was the primary native language of central Mexico both before
and after the Spanish conquest. It is the Latin of the indigenous
languages of the New World. Its tradition of alphabetic writing goes
back to the middle years of the sixteenth century and embraces not only
grammars, dictionaries, collections of preconquest lore, and works of
religious instruction, but also, above all, a great mass of mundane
writing by the Nahuas themselves for their own purposes. Though the past
quarter century has seen a flourishing of ethnohistorical, philological,
and grammatical studies based on this corpus, those interested in the
world of Nahuatl texts still find access to it difficult.
James Lockhart, an eminent historian of early Latin America, is also
perhaps the leading interpreter of this large body of work. He has
translated and edited a wide range of texts, analyzed their cultural and
linguistic implications, and over the years trained a large number of
students, several of whom have gone on to become well known scholars of
Nahuatl and other indigenous languages.
Lockhart's main tools of instruction were: (1) a gradually growing set
of lessons consisting primarily of examples culled from many sources of
the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries (or concocted in the spirit
of that time), and (2) the grammar or Arte of Nahuatl published in
Spanish by the Florentine Jesuit Horacio de Carochi in 1645. In small
groups of students, with a maximum of personal instruction and
discussion, these materials accomplished their purpose, but the lessons
were only in skeletal form, and the Carochi grammar, too, in the Spanish
editions available, needed extensive explanation.
Now, Lockhart has organized and expanded these materials into volumes
that can be understood by students working alone or used in organized
Nahuatl classes. The two books together will allow any seriously
interested person to master Nahuatl sufficiently to begin reading the
texts, and they will provide essential reference works as one
progresses. They are geared primarily to the older form of the language
and its written texts, but they can also be extremely useful to those
studying the spoken Nahuatl of later times.
Nahuatl as Written presumes no previous knowledge of the language.
Treating all essential features of Nahuatl, it is organized on purely
pedagogical principles, using techniques developed over many years of
practical teaching experience. The book is in large format, almost like
a workbook, with a great abundance of examples that serve as exercises;
the examples are also available separately for the student's
convenience. The orthography and vocabulary are those found in texts of
the time, and the last several of the twenty lessons give the student
training in working with texts as they were actually written. Some of
the lessons deal with syntax in a way not found elsewhere and develop
notions of anticipation and crossreference that are basic to Nahuatl
grammar. In line with Lockhart's wish to bring more people into the
Nahuatl documentary world, an Epilogue surveys many of the published
Nahuatl texts and an Appendix presents substantial selections from ten
different texts.
Carochi's 1645 Grammar is the most influential work ever published on
Nahuatl grammar and remains an essential work of reference. The best
recent grammars of Nahuatl are based on it, but they have not exhausted
it. It includes an extensive discussion of adverbial expressions and
particles that is found nowhere else, as well as an irreplaceable fund
of authentic examples from the time, translated by a contemporary.
Though a facsimile edition is available, the original is very difficult
to read, and only a few experts can fully understand the
seventeenth-century Spanish and Latinate grammatical terms. This new
edition presents the original Spanish and an English translation on
facing pages. Helpful footnotes provide explanatory commentary and more
literal translations of some of Carochi's examples. The volume is at
once an indispensable pedagogical tool and the first critical edition of
the premier monument of the Nahuatl grammatical literature.
The two books are published jointly with UCLA Latin American Center
Publications.
