When English-speakers first arrive in Mexico they encounter a clutter of linguistic surprises. There are a lot of words they already know, some of them Spanish, some “secretly” Nahuatl. And as they take on the heady revelations of Mexica history, they quickly run into a strange looking word — Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica’s chief god — and a startling cultural view. This is particularly so for those with the foresight to take a preparatory dip into a little serious research before arriving here — an applaudable impulse.
Nahuatl long ago infected the Spanish that the conquistadores brought to Mexico. Nahuatl is the language the Mexica (Aztecs, they’re called today) spoke when Hernan Cortes conquered their capital, Tenochtitlan, and their empire, Tuesday, August 13, 1521, the Feast of Saint Hippolytus.
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