Historical Context
The Mesoamerican Classic period (250 CE - 900 CE) is characterized by the formation of numerous independent city-states. Although this period is largely known for the achievements of the Mayans, who spoke Yucatec Maya, Nahua society can also be described as being city-states with their own sovereignty.
These city-states endured even after the Aztec’s rise in power during the Postclassic period (900 CE - 1521 CE), as the Aztec Empire governed not through the integration of its people, but through the extraction of resources—or “tribute”—from each city-state. With the status of being a tributary state, Nahua communities could remain mostly separate and autonomous despite being under Aztec rule.
Culture and Linguistics
As with all languages, Nahuatl differentiates between animate objects and inanimate objects, one method of which relies on the grammatical structuring of verbs. However, it is interesting to note when objects that are usually considered inanimate in most languages are considered animate in one particular language.
Stars, or citlalli in Nahuatl, are such an example. Since stars seem to move along with the changing seasons, it is not difficult to see why they would be treated as animate objects in Nahuatl. Still, the night sky itself is a prominent aspect of Mesoamerican culture, as many Mesoamerican societies developed an advanced science associated with the night sky—astronomy, as it is known in Western civilizations—resulting in the creation of two calendar systems. Moreover, these sciences also incorporated cultural lore and beliefs into the Mesoamerican people’s understanding of the night sky and stars.
Mountains, or tepetl in Nahuatl, are another example of animate objects in the language, but a less obvious one since mountains are stable and stay in one place. Still, many Nahua communities were established by mountains due to their defensive geographical features, and as such, these mountains became intrinsically linked to dynamic Nahua community identities. Tepetl is also a component of the Nahuatl word for community, altepetl, which also contains elements of the Nahuatl word for water, atl. As such, the meaning of altepetl can be broken down as water-mountain. Together, water and mountains sustain life for and represent a microcosm of Nahua communities.
As animate objects in Nahuatl, stars and mountains are not only differentiated from inanimate objects by verb structure, but also by being marked by honorifics. One such honorific, -tzin, which is derived from -tzintli, is attached to nouns not only to demonstrate reverence and maintain politeness, but as a diminutive, it also conveys affection. As such, while it is common in many societies to show deference to one’s rulers, in Nahua societies, rulers were also viewed fondly.
Nonetheless, Nahua societies were highly stratified in class, which is reflected by the extensive vocabulary denoting each individual’s status, ranging from the titles of nobles—lord being tecuhtli and ruler being tlahtoani—to the word for commoner—mācēhualli (although in the modern day, mācēhualli more commonly refers to an indigenous person).