Aztec script: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:51, 28 October 2023

Revision as of 23:52, 28 October 2023

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{{Expand Spanish|Escritura mexica|date=May 2022}}

{{Infobox writing system

| name name = Aztec

| type = Pictographic and logosyllabic

| type = Logosyllabic

| languages = [[Nahuatl language|Nahuatl]]

| time time = Most extant manuscripts from the 16th century

| sisters sisters = [[Mixtec writing|Mixtec]]

| sample sample = Aztecwriting.jpg

| imagesize = 97px

| unicode unicode = U+15C00 to U+15FFF (tentative)[https://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/smp/]

}}

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==Structure and use==

Aztec was [[pictogram|pictographic]] and [[ideographic]] [[proto-writing]], augmented by phonetic [[Rebus#Examples from history|rebuses]]. It also contained syllabic signs and logograms. There was no alphabet, but puns also contributed to recording sounds of the Aztec language. While some scholars have understood the system not to be considered a complete writing system, this is disputed by others. The existence of logograms and syllabic signs is being documented and a phonetic aspect of the writing system has emerged,<ref name="Lacadena"/> even though many of the syllabic characters have been documented since at least 1888 by Nuttall.<ref name="Zender">{{cite web|last=Zender|first=Marc|title=One Hundred and Fifty Years of Nahuatl Decipherment|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/journal/archive/PARI0804.pdf|work=The PARI Journal}}</ref> There are conventional signs for syllables and logograms which act as word signs or for their rebus content.<ref name="Zender"/> Logosyllabic writing appears on both painted and carved artifacts, such as the [[Tizoc Stone]].<ref>{{cite book|last=VanEssendelft|first=Willem|title=The word made stone: deciphering and mapping the glyphs of the Tizoc stone|year=2011|___location=Harvard Special Collection|page=86|url=http://dingofence.com/content/VanEssendelftALMThesis_v2_6.pdf|access-date=2012-10-15|archive-date=2021-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226215123/http://dingofence.com/content/VanEssendelftALMThesis_v2_6.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, instances of phonetic characters often appear within a significant artistic and pictorial context. In native manuscripts, the sequence of historical events is indicated by a line of footprints leading from one place or scene to another.

<ref>{{cite book|last=VanEssendelft|first=Willem|title=The word made stone: deciphering and mapping the glyphs of the Tizoc stone|year=2011|___location=Harvard Special Collection|page=86|url=http://dingofence.com/content/VanEssendelftALMThesis_v2_6.pdf|access-date=2012-10-15|archive-date=2021-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226215123/http://dingofence.com/content/VanEssendelftALMThesis_v2_6.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>nt artistic and pictorial context. In native manuscripts, the sequence of historical events is indicated by a line of footprints leading from one place or scene to another.

The [[ideographic]] nature of the writing is apparent in abstract concepts, such as death, represented by a corpse wrapped for burial; night, drawn as a black sky and a closed eye; war, by a shield and a club; and speech, illustrated as a little scroll issuing from the mouth of the person who is talking. The concepts of motion and walking were indicated by a trail of footprints.<ref name="Bray, Warwick 1968 93-96">{{cite book |author=Bray, Warwick |year=1968 |title=Everyday Life of The Aztecs |url=https://archive.org/details/everydaylifeofaz00warw |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/everydaylifeofaz00warw/page/93 93]–96|publisher=Dorset Press |isbn=9780880291439 }}</ref>