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{{Expand Spanish|Escritura mexica|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox writing system
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The '''Aztec''' or '''Nahuatl script''' is a [[pre-Columbian]] [[writing system]] that combines [[ideograph]]ic writing with [[Nahuatl]] specific phonetic logograms and syllabic signs<ref name="Lacadena">{{cite web|last=Lacadena|first=Alfonso|title=Regional Scribal Traditions: Methodological Implications for the Decipherment of Nahuatl Writing|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/journal/804/PARI0804.pdf}}</ref> which was used in central [[Mexico]] by the [[Nahua people]].
== Origin==
The Aztec writing system derives from writing systems used in
[[File:Aztec silabary in IPA Lacadena Wichmann 2004.jpg|thumb|Aztec syllabary (according to Lacadena and Wichmann, 2004)]]
==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"
▲. 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 whicchn a act asemantic and phonetic complements nt.<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.
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>
A glyph could be used as a rebus to represent a different word with the same sound or similar pronunciation. This is especially evident in the glyphs of town names.<ref>{{cite book |author=Spinden, Herbert J. |year=1928 |title=Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America |url=https://archive.org/details/civilizat03spin |pages=[https://archive.org/details/civilizat03spin/page/n228 223]–229|publisher=New York }}</ref> For example, the glyph for Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was represented by combining two
Aztec Glyphs do not have a set reading order, unlike [[Maya hieroglyphs]]. As such, they may be read in any direction which forms the correct sound values in the context of the glyph. However, there is an internal reading order in that any sign will be followed by the next sign for the following sound in the word being written. They do not jumble up the sounds in a word.
===Numerals===
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