Since the early 16th century,Nahuatl has been written in anorthography inLatin script based onSpanish spelling conventions, with overall the same values for letters in both orthographies. Over the centuries, Latin script was utilized to record a large body of Nahuatl prose and poetry, which somewhat mitigated the devastating loss of the thousands ofAztec manuscripts that were burned by Spanish missionaries.

Printed and manuscript texts in Nahuatl generally display a lot of orthographical variety, as there was no official institution that developed and promoted a standard.^[1] The spelling as used in ecclesiastical circles between 1570 and 1650 showed the highest degree of stability, and this spelling, and the language variety written in it, are considered "classical".

A new orthography was introduced in 1950 in the weekly magazineMexicatl Itonalama. This orthography is currently used to write some of themodern Nahuatl dialects.

The development of Nahuatl orthography was analyzed and described by the American historian and linguistJames Lockhart.^[2] He divides the development of Nahuatl orthography into three stages:

• Stage 1, the early stage of experimentation, characterised by much variety in the representation of some phonemes; for example,/ˈiːwaːn/ "and, also" can be written asihuan,yhuan,iuan,juan,yuan,ivan,jvan,yvan,ihoan,jhuan,yhoan,ioan,joan oryoan.^[3]
• Stage 2, starting around 1570 when a more or less standardised orthography emerged, which showed "great stability as practiced in ecclesiastical circles";^[4] this stage is considered the classical period of Nahuatl.
• Stage 3, from 1650 onward, which saw the production of large amounts of "mundane" (i.e. non-religious or ecclesiastical) texts by native scribes.

The standard or "classical" orthography was established in the second half of the 16th century.^[5] It represents thephonemes of Nahuatl as follows.

The four vowels are writtena,e,i,o. The phonemic contrast between short and long vowels is left unmarked.

The stops/p/ and/t/, the nasals/m/ and/n/, and the approximants/l/ and/j/ are written in a straightforward manner (the right-hand column shows the spelling in syllable-final position):

The nasal/n/ becomes[m] before a labial consonant, and may then be writtenm. Conversely, the nasal/m/ becomes[n] before a dental consonant, and is then writtenn. In addition, both/n/ and/m/ are realised as[ɲ] before alveopalatal consonants, and as[ŋ] before velars; they are then writtenn, as incōnchīhua[koːn̥ˈt͡ʃiːwa] "he's going to do it",oncochi[oŋˈkot͡ʃi] "he sleeps too late".^[6]

The spellingll representsgeminated/l/, not palatal/ʎ/ or/j/ as in Spanish; for example,calli "house" is/ˈkalːi/, not */kaʎi/.^[7]

The semivowely/j/ does not occur in syllable-final position, where it changes to/ʃ/ or/s/.^[8]

The affricates/tʃ/ and/tɬ/ and the approximant/w/ are written with thedigraphsch,tl, andhu:

The/w/ does not occur before the vowel/o/, so the spellinghuo does not exist. Syllable-final/w/ is most often written with the digraphhu reversed touh, as inteuhtli/tewtɬi/ "sand, dust".^[9]

As in Spanish, the stop/k/ is writtenc before/a,o/ and syllable-finally, andqu before/i,e/. Labialized/kʷ/ is writtenqu before/a/, while before/e/ and/i/ it is writtencu, sincequ is used to write plain/k/ before/e,i/; thusquiquaque/kiˈkʷaːkeˀ/ "they ate it".^[10]

Labialized/kʷ/ does not occur before/o/, hence the spellingsquo orcuo do not exist. Syllable-final/kʷ/ is most often writtencuh, but it can also be writtencu oruc,^[11] as intecuhtli,tecutli orteuctli/teːˈkʷt͡ɬi/ "lord".

The spellingchua seemingly contains the digraphch, which is used to write/tʃ/, but in fact represents the pronunciations/k.wa(ː)/ (syllable-final/k/ followed by/wa(ː)/, as innichualitta/nik.wa:.lit.ta/ "I'm coming to see it".^[12] The spellingchua/k.wa(ː)/ is thus distinct fromqua/kʷa(ː)/, while/tʃ.wa(ː)/ is spelledchhua as inmichhua/mit͡ʃwaʔ/ "fisherman".

The dental fricative/s/ is writtenc before/e,i/,ç before/a,o/, andz syllable-finally. The affricate/t͡s/ is writtentz in all positions, and the palatal fricative/ʃ/ is writtenx in all positions.

The choice forc,ç andz to represent/s/ instead of simples was dictated by the pronunciation of Spanish sibilants in the 16th century, which was different from modern pronunciation.^[13] At that time the graphs, as used in Spanish orthography, represented an apico-alveolar sibilant, which was perceived by speakers of Nahuatl as being close to/ʃ/.^[14] The graphsc (before/e,i/),ç (before/a,o/) andz on the other hand represented a dental sibilant in 16th-century Spanish, and were therefore adopted in Nahuatl orthography to write dental/s/.^[15]

The letterx represented/ʃ/ in 16th-century Spanish as well. Thus the name ofCervantes’ famous fictional character was pronounced/dɔnkiʃɔtɛ/ and written asDon Quixote in the 16th century, with the letterx representing/ʃ/.^[16]

The lettersb,d,f,g,j,r,s, andv are not needed for the writing of native Nahuatl words, but they can be used in the spelling of Spanish loanwords. However, the spelling of loanwords often reflects their (complete or partial) assimilation to Nahuatl phonology, for examplelexitol/leʃitol/ from Spanishregidor "councilman"^[17]

In most classical Nahuatl texts, printed as well as manuscript, short and long vowels are not distinguished, and theglottal stop/ʔ/ or "saltillo" is not represented. This underrepresentation apparently did not seriously affect legibility.

In hisArte de la Lengua Mexicana (1645), the priest and grammarianHoracio Carochi aimed to provide a full representation of all phonemically relevant features of Nahuatl. He therefore used themacron to mark long vowels (ā,ē,ī,ō), for exampletōtōpīl/toːˈtoːpiːl/ "little bird".^[18] He also marked the presence of word-internal glottal stop with agrave accent on the preceding vowel letter (à,è,ì,ò), and word-final glottal stop with acircumflex on the preceding vowel letter (â,ê,î,ô), for exampletlàcuilô/tɬaʔˈkʷiloo̥/ "scribe, painter".^[19] Since long vowels do not occur before glottal stop, the "stacking" of two diacritics on a vowel letter was not necessary.

Carochi's innovations were subsequently used by some fellow-Jesuit authors, but they never gained wide currency. The French linguist Michel Launey used Carochi's notation of glottal stop in his grammars (1994, 2011) and other publications.

Word-internal glottal stop was occasionally written with the letterh, notably by the 16th-century lexicographerAlonso de Molina, for exampletlahca/tɬaʔˈkaˀ/ "by day".^[20] Although this was never done consistently, Lockhart notes that writing/ʔ/ ash was "perennial" and "the tradition of it never entirely disappeared".^[21]

As before, in post-classical orthography vowel length was never marked, and glottal stop was written only sporadically (ash).

The "single most substantial change" was the replacement, starting around 1650, ofc (beforee andi),ç andz bys.^[22] This change was inspired by the merger of the Spanish apico-alveolar sibilant (writtens) with the dental sibilant, and by the beginning of the 18th century the use ofs had become the norm, as intotlasomahuisnantzin for classicaltotlaçomahuiznantzin/totɬasoʔmawisˈnaːnt͡sin/ "our precious revered mother".^[23] The digraphtz for/ts/ remained unchanged.

With that, the orthography of post-classical texts shows growing instability, mainly through the influence of dialectal (non-classical) varieties of the language. One source of instability was the disappearance in some varieties of spoken Nahuatl of some syllable-final consonants, in particular/n/, which was reflected in the orthography. Other orthographical variants, encountered in all three stages, are:

• geminated consonants written as a single consonants
• i/i(ː)/ writteny, especially in word-initial position^[24]
• o/oː/ writtenu
• hu/w/ writtenu,ho oro
• ce/se(ː)/ andci/si(ː)/ writtençe,çi (matchingça/sa(ː)/ andço/so(ː)/)

Since the 1970s, linguists working on Nahuatl have made use of what may be termed a "neoclassical" orthography for the language. This orthography is closely modelled on the classical (Stage 2) spelling as described above, but with the following adaptations:

• following Carochi, long vowels are always marked with a macron: classicala,e,i,o > neoclassicala/ā,e/ē,i/ī,o/ō
• syllable-final glottal stop is always writtenh, for example classicaltlacuilo > neoclassicaltlahcuiloh/tɬaʔkʷiloo̥/;^[25] the use ofh is based on historical precedent, and lends the glottal stop more "body" than the diacritics used by Carochi
• syllable-final/kʷ/ is always writtenuc, for example classicaltecuhtli,tecutli orteuctli > neoclassicaltēuctli/teːˈkʷt͡ɬi/ "lord".

Also, a few classical spelling conventions are brought into line with the current standardised Spanish orthography:

• ça andço are replaced withza andzo, for example classicalçacatl/ˈsakatɬ/ "grass, hay",^[26]çoquitl/ˈsokitɬ/ "clay, mud"^[27] > neoclassicalzacatl,zoquitl^[28]
• qua is replaced withcua, for example classicalquaquauhconetl/kʷaːkʷaʍˈkoneːt͡ɬ/ "calf" > neoclassicalcuācuauhconētl.^[29]

The neoclassical spelling of Nahuatl provides a full written representation of all phonologically relevant facts. It is employed in two central reference tools in modern Nahuatl studies, Andrews'Introduction to Classical Nahuatl (1975, revised edition 2003), and Karttunen'sAnalytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (1983). It is also often used for the transcription of Nahuatl terms in non-linguistic disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and history.

It has to be borne in mind however that the neoclassical spelling is a modern construct, which does not exactly reproduce any of the actual orthographies that were used in historical printed and manuscript sources.

Overview of the neoclassical orthography:

Glottal stop occurs frequently in syllable-final position, and very rarely between like vowels in forms that resulted fromreduplication. It is then also writtenh, as inehēcatl/eʔˈeːkat͡ɬ/ "wind",ohōme/oʔˈoːme/ "two by two";^[30] cf. classicaleecatl andoome.^[31]

The neoclassical spelling does not regulate the spelling of Spanish loanwords, because "loanwords exist in the language in all stages of assimilation to the phonology of the language (…). As a result, it is rather meaningless to assign canonical forms to them, existing as they do in transit from one language to the other."^[32]

A new orthography was introduced in 1950 in the weekly cultural magazineMexihkatl Itonalama, published by the American linguistRobert H. Barlow (director), and the Mexican linguist and native speaker Miguel Barrios Espinosa (editor-in-chief). The frontpage of the first issue of 12 May 1950 carries the headline ININ TOTLAHTOL OKSE: TLEKA TIKIHKWILOSKEH KEMEN KAXTILLAN? "This language of ours is a different one: why should we write it as if it were Spanish?"^[33]

Compared to classical Nahuatl spelling as described above, the new orthography as proposed and used inMexihkatl Itonalama contains the following changes:

• /s/ is writtens instead ofc/ç/z
• /ts/ is writtents instead oftz
• /k/ is writtenk instead ofc/qu
• /kʷ/ is writtenkw instead ofqu/cu/uc
• /w/ is writtenw instead ofhu/uh
• /ʔ/ is writtenh

The new orthography thus does away with all almost all the typically Spanish spelling conventions of the classical orthography. The exception is thedigraphch/tʃ/, which was kept, but which could have been replaced withtx.

The new orthography does not mark the vowel length contrast, which has been lost in most modern dialects.

Overview of the new orthography:

This new orthography, now usually named the "modern orthography" (ortografía moderna), is used for the writing of some modern dialects, sometimes with the alternative spellingsku forkw, andu forw.^[34] Also, long vowels can be written with double symbolsaa,ee,ii,oo, and fricative/h/, which occurs in some dialects as thereflex of original glottal stop, may be writtenj.

The new or modern orthography is promoted by the MexicanSecretariat of Public Education (Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP), a federal government authority, and is sometimes referred to as "the modern orthography of the SEP" (la ortografía moderna de SEP), with some websites wrongly stating that it was designed by SEP experts.^[35]

The new or modern orthography has not yet succeeded in becoming the dominant system, and some dialects such asHuasteca are now written in several competing orthographies (neoclassical, modern, and the mixed orthography employed bySIL international).

• Nahuas
• Nahuatl
• Classical Nahuatl
• Classical Nahuatl grammar
• History of Nahuatl
• Nahuan languages

• Andrews, J. Richard (2003).Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, Revised Edition. University of Oklahoma Press.ISBN 0-8061-3452-6.
• Canger, Una (2011)."The origin of orthographic hu for /w/ in Nahuatl".Ancient Mesoamerica.22 (1):27–35.doi:10.1017/S0956536111000058.JSTOR 26309546.S2CID 162611641.
• Carochi, Horacio (1645).Arte de la lengua mexicana con la declaración de los adverbios della. Mexico City: Juan Ruiz.
• Karttunen, Frances (1983).An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl. Austin: University of Texas Press.ISBN 0-8061-2421-0.
• Launey, Michel (1994).Une grammaire omniprédicative – Essai sur la morphosyntaxe du nahuatl classique. Paris: CNRS Éditions.ISBN 2-271-05072-3.
• Launey, Michel (2011).An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0521732291.
• Lockhart, James (2001).Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts. UCLA Latin American Studies, Vol. 88. Stanford University Press.ISBN 0-8047-4282-0.
• Molina, Alonso de (1571).Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana. Mexico City: Antonio de Spinosa.

• Nahuatl
• Latin-script orthographies

• Articles containing Classical Nahuatl-language text
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles containing Spanish-language text
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