Sources and credits

How this course was made

Itzli designs its own learning path, bilingual teaching notes, practice scenes, sentence-building tasks and conversation activities. Yan García’s Learn Nahuatl, Second Edition is an inspiration and reference for this course. García has not endorsed Itzli.

Learn Nahuatl, Language of the Aztecs and Modern Nahuas: Second Edition

By Yan García · Second Edition

Buy Yan García’s book

Vocabulary senses and grammar are checked at specific regional source locations. Published records preserve source spellings, evidence links and review limits. A reference match supports the particular reviewed fact; it does not establish every possible meaning, pronunciation or community usage. Unresolved claims remain withheld. The modern IDIEZ online dictionary and Chicontepec dictionary share a source family, so they are not counted as independent consensus.

We also reuse and adapt openly licensed Nāhuatlahtolli material, with its authors credited and changes identified. This includes source expressions, selected lesson text and vocabulary, and links to original recordings. The publisher labels the course CC BY-SA without specifying a version. Itzli’s original V3 contributions are offered under CC BY-SA 4.0; original source and media notices continue to apply. Other references supply individually checked facts and do not grant a license to reproduce their publications or media.

Publisher’s CC BY-SA source listing · Itzli’s original V3 contributions: CC BY-SA 4.0

Teaching orthography: Alfabeto del idioma Nawatlahtolli (náhuatl) · Spanish-language alphabet poster.

The poster has no printed publication date. Its PDF metadata records January 31, 2025 as the modification date; INALI lists it on a page dated May 28, 2025. This is a published alphabet poster, not marked draft. It does not establish the final status of the full writing norm. INALI publication listing.

Itzli respells vocabulary and practice using this alphabet. Original source transcriptions retain their own spellings in labeled references; the alphabet does not make every regional form or pronunciation identical.

Academia Veracruzana de las Lenguas Indígenas (AVELI)
clacs.berkeley.edu
Council of Europe · CEFR
Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl, UNAM
Gobierno Municipal de Ecatepec de Morelos
INAH
INAH / Museo del Templo Mayor
INALI
INPI
Instituto Lingüístico de Verano; UNAM Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas
Instituto Nacional Electoral
J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute
Learn Nahuatl · Yan García
Library of Congress
Marcos Hilario Cruz; edition supported by the Programa de Desarrollo Cultural de la Huasteca
mexico.sil.org
Municipio de Jaltocán, Hidalgo
Museo del Templo Mayor, INAH
  • Mito de la peregrinación

    Museo del Templo Mayor, INAH

    Factual or framework reference; no publication or media reuse license asserted.

Museo Nacional de Antropología, INAH
  • Los abuelos de la tierra

    Museo Nacional de Antropología, INAH

    Factual or framework reference; no publication or media reuse license asserted.

Nāhuatlahtolli · COERLL / UT Austin
Online Nahuatl Dictionary · University of Oregon
revistas-filologicas.unam.mx
scholars.sil.org
Secretaría de Educación Pública de Hidalgo, Dirección de Educación Indígena
  • Vocabulario básico Náhuatl-Español (2014)

    Fernando Silva Hernández, Secretaría de Educación Pública (Hidalgo vocabulary), Andrés Martínez Martínez, Valentín Peralta Ramírez, IDIEZ contributors, COERLL Nahuatlahtolli contributors

    Secretaría de Educación Pública de Hidalgo, Dirección de Educación Indígena

    Factual or framework reference; no publication or media reuse license asserted.

Secretaría de Educación Pública, CGEIB, and CDI
Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEPE-USET, Gobierno del Estado de Tlaxcala
SEP, Dirección General de Educación Indígena
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Altar to the Sun Warrior

    Nahua artist or artists

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    Artwork credit: Public Domain (CC0)

  • Coiled serpent

    Mexica artist

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    Artwork credit: Public Domain (CC0)

Tlahtolxitlauhcayotl · IDIEZ / University of Warsaw
  • Selected Chicontepec weather facts in Tlahtolxitlauhcayotl (2016)

    John Sullivan, Eduardo de la Cruz Cruz, Abelardo de la Cruz de la Cruz, Delfina de la Cruz de la Cruz, Victoriano de la Cruz Cruz, Sabina Cruz de la Cruz, Ofelia Cruz Morales, Catalina Cruz de la Cruz, Manuel de la Cruz Cruz, IDIEZ contributors, COERLL Nahuatlahtolli contributors, Victoriano de la Cruz Cruz (INE Nahuatl translation), David H. Tuggy Turner, John Sullivan and IDIEZ collaborators, Abelardo de la Cruz and the Nāhuatlahtolli project, David H. Tuggy, Andrés Martínez Martínez, Valentín Peralta Ramírez, John Sullivan and IDIEZ Chicontepec collaborators, Araceli Aguilar Meléndez and Crescencio Hernández Osorio (separately consulted native-language interview)

    IDIEZ and University of Warsaw, Faculty of Artes Liberales

    Factual or framework reference; no publication or media reuse license asserted.

Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. / eBible.org
Wycliffe translation distributed by eBible.org
Xochitlahtolli

This register credits the sources identified in the published content. Original recordings keep their source links and notices. Some pre-existing word images and synthetic recordings still have unresolved provenance or validation; this register does not certify all legacy assets or grant additional media rights.

What Itzli V3 includes

One free, guided course in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl, with vocabulary, grammar, sentence building, and conversation practice. Refreshed pronunciation audio accompanies original speaker recordings where available.

free guided lessons
324
words and written forms
1,724
practice audio clips
5,608

The vocabulary total counts distinct written words and forms in the current learner course. Sources, credits, and pronunciation notes remain available below.

Carry it forward

Support the people behind the language.

Learning is one way to help. If you can, support organizations working with Indigenous communities in Mexico. Explore their work and donate directly through their own websites.

Veracruz · Huasteca Potosina

Fondo para la Paz, I.A.P.

Works with Indigenous communities on safe water, education, food security, and livelihoods. Its work includes communities in Veracruz and the Huasteca Potosina.

Read about their workDonate on their website →

Nahua communities · Veracruz

Fundación Corazón Raíz, A.C.

Supports education in Indigenous and rural communities, including Nahua communities in Zongolica, Veracruz. Its Mujeres Semilla project offers job training for Nahua women.

Read about their workDonate on their website →

CC BY-SA Source Course

Nawatlahtolli

A Beginner to Advanced Level Nahuatl Online Course. This browser keeps the imported source lessons visible alongside Itzli's curated practice path.

COERLL listing

Source and license

This section adapts content from Nawatlahtolli, published by COERLL, The University of Texas at Austin, by Sabina de la Cruz, Catalina de la Cruz, Josefrayn Sánchez-Perry, Kelly McDonough, Sergio Romero. The publisher’s OER listing labels the source CC BY-SA without specifying a version. Itzli’s original V3 contributions and adaptations use CC BY-SA 4.0. Publisher’s source-license listing.

Nāhuatlahtolli source media is retained as links to the original recordings and images. Its institutional logos are not imported as Itzli assets.

Itzli adapts vocabulary and practice to the INALI alphabet poster identified above. Original source transcriptions are labeled as references and retain their spellings.

32
source lessons
594
audio-backed source entries
124
lesson sections
773
source media links

Lessons

Open Itzli units
1

Piltlahkwiloltsitsin

The Alphabet

60 words · 2 sections

2

Tlahtlanilistli

Questions

40 words · 3 sections

3

¿Kenihki motokah?

What is your name?

17 words · 5 sections

4

Ixneskayotl wan tlapowalistli

Colors and Numbers

31 words · 3 sections

5

Sehsen inintekiw

The Professions

12 words · 5 sections

6

Tlachiwalistli tlen ax kimanextia se tlamantli

Intransitive Verbs

40 words · 4 sections

7

Ken moxeloa tonatiw

How to divide up the day

39 words · 5 sections

8

Noyollo

Possessive markers

51 words · 4 sections

9

Teiixmatkakwawitl

The Family

29 words · 4 sections

10

Notlachiyalis

My Appearance

29 words · 5 sections

11

Kemman motlahpaloa wan monawatihtewa

When you greet and say farewell

10 words · 5 sections

12

Tlachiwalistli tlen panos

Future tense and indefinite verbs

15 words · 4 sections

13

Tlachiwalistli tlen kimanextia akkiya kichiwa se tlamantli

Verbs with specific object

11 words · 4 sections

14

Tlachiwalistli tlen panok Part 1

Past Tense Verbs Part 1

12 words · 4 sections

15

Tlachiwalistli tlen panok, Part 2

Past Tense Verbs Part 2

14 words · 4 sections

16

Tlachiwalistli tlen panok. Part 3

Past Tense Verbs Part 3

10 words · 5 sections

17

Na nimosewia pan kwasiyah

I Sit in the Chair

32 words · 3 sections

18

Tlen nikamati wan tlen ax nikamati

What I Like and Do Not Like

36 words · 3 sections

19

Ximoketsa

Stand Up!

27 words · 5 sections

20

Tlahtoltekpanalitsli -pil wan -tsin

The Grammar of -pil and -tzin

48 words · 4 sections

21

Tlen tikpiyah pan millah

What We Have in the Field

31 words · 4 sections

22

Tomillah wah totlakwalis

Our Cornfield and Our Food

0 words · 3 sections

23

Tlen eltok kalihtik

What is Inside the House

0 words · 5 sections

24

Niihwia pan altepetl, Part 1

I Had Gone to the City Part 1

0 words · 4 sections

25

Niihwia pan altepetl Part 2

I Had Gone to the City Part 2

0 words · 3 sections

26

Nikikowako se tlaxkalyoyomitl

I Came to Buy a Tortilla Napkin

0 words · 3 sections

27

Namantsin eltok tiankis

It’s market day today!

0 words · 4 sections

28

Nipanoyaya mochan

I Was Passing By Your House

0 words · 3 sections

29

¿Tlen kokolistli tikixmati?

What Illnesses Do You Know?

0 words · 4 sections

30

-skia, -toskia

The conditional, Part 1

0 words · 4 sections

31

Tlakotontli wan tlaochpanalistli: Kleansing seremonies, the konditional. Part 2)

0 words · 3 sections

32

Te- and tla-: Non-spesifik objekt markers, Part 1

0 words · 3 sections

Course Context

Original source references: these retain the source's own spelling.

Introduction

Overview

These materials were designed for both classroom instruction and individual learners. If you do not have access to a Nahuatl instructor you can still profit from them if you follow these general directions:

Open original page →
Language

Overview

The Nahuatl presented in this curriculum comes from the Huasteca region in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, where one can find a municipality called Chicontepec (Figure 1 & 2). Various historical communities of Nahuatl-speaking peoples live in this region. In the same way that the Nahuatl language continues to be important for the municipality of Chicontepec, Nahua customs and traditions influence the lives of the people who live here. The objective of this material is to serve as a revitalization tool for Nahuatl language learning.

Image: https://tlahtolli.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2020-08-23-at-12.26.28-PM-300x194.png

Figure 1. Google Image of location of Chicontepec

Image: https://tlahtolli.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/el_idioma_map2-300x215.png

Figure 2. Google Image of the Municipality Chicontepec

The writing of Nahuatl in this material is the product of almost 500 years of evolution. Nahuatl was alphabetized by indigenous and mendicant missionary groups, who began to systematize the language as early as the 1540s in central Mexico. Writing in Mesoamerica, including Nahuatl, was not a new concept however (Boone and Mignolo 1994; Lacadena 2008), but writing in the Roman alphabet was. Nahuas were important protagonists in the creation of crucial colonial texts that help us understand the history and legacy of the language.

Image: https://tlahtolli.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/PyramidNiches1-300x201.jpg

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Resources

Overview

Many have written about Nahuatl from the Huasteca. Here are a few resources:

Abelardo de la Cruz, “The Value of El Costumbre and Christianity in the Discourse of Nahua Catechists from the Huasteca Region in Veracruz, Mexico, 1970’s-2010’s”

Link for this:

https://www.academia.edu/35580492/11delaCruz_WordsandWorlds.pdf

Abelardo de la Cruz and Eduardo de la Cruz, “Perspectivas sobre la revitalización de la lengua náhuatl en la Huasteca Veracruzana”

Link for this:

https://www.academia.edu/29446815/Perspectives_on_the_Revitalization_of_the_Nahuatl_Language_in_the_Huasteca_Veracruzana

Open original page →
Funding

Overview

The contents of this website were developed under grant #P229A140005 from the U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education.

Open original page →
Team

Overview

Image: https://tlahtolli.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/sabina.png

Sabina Cruz de la Cruz , ehua pan ce pilaltepetzin Tecomate, Chicontepec; Veracruz, nahuatlahtoa. Momachtihqui pan caltlamachtiloyan tlen Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (UAZ), Momachtihqui tlen Derecho. Ce tlamachtihquetl tlen Educacion Historica pan caltlamachtiloyan tlen Centro de Actualización del Magisterio de Zacatecas. Tlamachtihquetl tlen nahuatl pan Departamento tlen Antropologia pan caltlamachtiloyan tlen Tulane, New Orleans, Louisiana, Estados Unidos. Tlamachtihquetl tlen nahuatl pan Departamento tlen “Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies and Collections” LLILAS Benson, pan caltlamchtiloyan tlen Texas, Austin, Estados Unidos. Tlamachtihquetl huan tlatemohquetl pan Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas. (IDIEZ).

Sabina Cruz de la Cruz, is from Tecomate, Chicontepec, Veracruz, a native speaker of Nahuatl. She studied at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, where she received a bachelor degree in law. She has a master degree in history and education from the Centro de Actualización del Magisterio de Zacatecas. She is an instructor of Nahuatl in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also instructor of Nahuatl at LLILAS-Benson at the University of Texas at Austin and the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas.

Image: https://tlahtolli.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/catalina.png

Catalina Cruz de la Cruz , euhqui pan ce tonatiuh tlen Septiembre pan 1984 pan pilaltepetzin Tecomate, Chicontepec, tlatitlantoc Veracruz. Momachtih preescolar hasta la preparatoria pan pilaltepetzin Tecomate. Momachtih pan Caltlamachtiloyan tlen Zacatecas, Unidad Académica de Derecho. Nouhquiya tequitic quen tlamachtihquetl huan tlatehtemouhquetl pan Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas (IDIEZ). Nouhquiya momachtih pan Unidad Académica de Docencia Superior, quipiya Maestría en investigaciones Humanísticas y Educativas.

Catalina Cruz de la Cruz was born on September 1, 1984 in the community of Tecomate, Chicontepec, Veracruz. She studied grade school and high school in the community of Tecomate. She then went to study at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas. She also works as an instructor and researcher at the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas. She has a masters degree in education and the humanities.

Image: https://tlahtolli.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/josefrayn.png

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Help us teach the language faithfully.

Do you speak Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl? I welcome your corrections to vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, and examples of usage from your community. If you would like to connect or help improve the course, I would love to hear from you.

I am happy to be told I am wrong. Suggestions are reviewed before they change the course. Anyone can report a problem; sharing your name, contact details, and community is optional. — Sam Villa-Smith