AZTEC CIVILIZATION, PICTOGRAPHS, AND LACK OF ANACCEPTED WRITING SYSTEM

R C lRenee Coppola

OUTLINE

Aztec society and civilization Why Aztec did not have “accepted” writing

t b h l ’ t d dsystem by some scholar’s standards Language and pictographs of the Aztec Empire

F ti d l i ti f th thi Function and logistics of these things Why Aztec writing system may not have been

fully developedfully developed

MY VIEW/THESIS

A writing system was in the making in the Aztec Empire, but was not needed or practical because of the way the Aztec saw history and excluded of the way the Aztec saw history and excluded regular Mexica people from it.

ORIGIN OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE

Came from the North (opposite direction of Mayans)B ht lt Brought own culture

Fought with local tribesS l d T h i l i 325 Settled Tenochtitlan in 1325

TE

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TITT

LA

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TENOCHTITLAN

Described as greater than European cities by Cortés

L l ti Larger population Extensive road and aqueduct system Exquisite causeways Exquisite causeways Beautiful garden plots Two story homesy Giant pyramids and temples

POLITICAL/SOCIETAL STRUCTURE

Monarchy, most famous king- Moctezuma Tenochtitlan- center of everything Warrior Society

Greatly fearedC d l d d i Conquered many lands to expand empire

Tribute systemF i t b A t Foreigners cannot be Aztec

Aztec better than all Mexica peoples i d Very strict caste/gender system

Everyone has their place in Aztec society

LANGUAGE

Spoke Nahuatl Part of the Uto-Aztecan branch of languages

Roots in northwestern Mexico, spread from American West (Idaho, California), to lower Central America

WHY AZTECS NOT CONSIDERED TO HAVEA WRITING SYSTEM

Under Stephen H. Houston’s definition of writing, writing represents speechA t iti d t t t b t t f ll Aztec writing does to an extent, but not fully formed, most up for interpretation

“WRITING” IN AZTEC SOCIETY

Most pictographic or ideographic, considered proto-writingAl ti ll d bl ti i t Also sometimes called emblematic script

Much interpretation allowedU d ll bi i d h i lli i Used some syllabic signs and phonetic spelling in place names and personal names only and under pictographs never alonepictographs, never alone

Rebus principle- one sign can stand for two morphemes (phonetic)morphemes (phonetic)

Going toward a monosyllabic system, like Sumerian, or Egyptian, gyp

Focused heavily on time like Mayans All used to recount the past

The elite’s past not the Mexica people Local histories, no such thing as Aztec history

Diff t ki d f l Different kinds of samples: Codices- large books of pictographs Annals pictographic and numeral elements in Annals- pictographic and numeral elements in

chronological, time like form Cartographic- maps used to tell a story (usually

migration)

CODICES

Most famous Aztec Codex- Codex Borgia Read as a story, with relative order because of

ti d iseparation and meaning Time and place said first, then story

R di l b i h Represents dialogue, but is not speech

ANNALS

Marks everything due to time it occurred Written on paper Usually long narrow script, like a time line Used to illustrate birth and death of rulers,

i h b i i d d f h i 52 succession, the beginning and end of their 52 year cycles, conquest, and natural disasterU ll h difi d b l Usually year may have codified symbol

CARTOGRAPHIC HISTORIES

Due to the Aztecs focus on migration, they often wrote on a map to show movement or conquestU ll k th i i t i ti f Usually marks the origin story, migration of Aztec to Tenochtitlan (namely the Map Sigüenza)

Also record journeys of important people Also record journeys of important people Mountains, rivers, and people are represented

Al k h l i l d Also marks chorological order

REASONS WHY AZTECS DID NOT ADOPTMAYAN WRITING

Did not speak same language Lived in different areas, Aztecs from north,

M f th tMayans from southeast

REASONS WHY AZTECS MAY NOT HAVEWANTED TRADITIONAL WRITING SYSTEM

Would make classes and groups more equal Would equate all Nahuatl speakers

T h i li i f Too much transparency in system- may limit fear Too many languages and cultures to transcend-

t ti lnot practical Pictographs were a piece of the story as a whole,

hard to separate Aztec “visual thinkers ” could hard to separate, Aztec visual thinkers, could read without words “Oh Giver of Life!... Later you will destroy eagles and Oh Giver of Life!... Later you will destroy eagles and

tigers, we live only in your painting, here, on earth.” Painting represents their existence in a way

WHY AZTEC WRITING WAS NOT FULLYDEVELOPED

Aztec civilization only 200 years old at the time to adopt/“invent” writing while Classic Mayan civilization had 1000 years to develop writingcivilization had 1000 years to develop writing

GENERAL CONCLUSION

The Aztecs Empire was extremely advanced but relatively new at the time of its takeover by the Spanish. They were unique from other surrounding Spanish. They were unique from other surrounding tribes because of their heritage and used this difference to mark them as the best people in Mexico, t th ti Th A t lit d it at the time. The Aztec were an elite group and it was

practically impossible to become a part of it. Writing was not centralized, and many scholars agree, not , y g ,present, while others think that they had proto-writing. Codices, annals, and cartographic histories

e e thei fo of “ iting ” hich e hibits that the were their form of “writing,” which exhibits that they are visual thinkers who interpret their works differently. But the rebus principle and phonetic complements were present, marking that the Aztecs were on their way towards a writing system.

WORKS CONSULTED

B Eli b th Hill S i i R d d Bl k Boone, Elizabeth Hill. Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs. Austin: University of Texas, 2000. Print.

Clendinnen, Inga. Aztecs: an Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.

Fedorova Liudmilla L "The Emblematic Script of the Fedorova, Liudmilla L. "The Emblematic Script of the Aztec Codices as a Particular Semiotic Type of Writing System." Written Language and Literacy

2 (2009) 258 75 CSA Ill i W b 4 N 20102 (2009): 258-75. CSA Illumina. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. Leon, Portilla Miguel. The Aztec Image of Self and

Society: an Introduction to Nahua Culture. Salt yLake City: University of Utah, 1992. Print.

"Traditions of Mexico - Indigenous Languages." Houston Institute for Culture Web 04 Nov 2010 Houston Institute for Culture. Web. 04 Nov. 2010.

<http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/aztec.html>

PICTURE/PHOTO COURTESY

B Eli b th Hill St i i R d d Bl k Pi t i l Boone, Elizabeth Hill. Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs. Austin: University of Texas, 2000. Print.

Loubat. "Codex Borgia." Chart. UniversitätsbibliothekRostock. 1898. FAMSI. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. <http://www.famsi.org/research/loubat/Borgia/thumbs0.ht

lml>. "Mapa De Sigüenza." Map. Maps: Finding Our Place in the

World. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007. What Is a Map? Web. 4 Nov. 2010. <http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/akerman/>.

Mladjow, Ian. "The Aztec Empire in 1518." Map. j , p pDepartment of History: University of Michigan. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://sitemaker.umich.edu/mladjov/maps&>.

Painting. Tenochtitlan. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. Painting. Tenochtitlan. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs1.htm>.

Photograph. History of Aztec Indians. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://www aztec-history net/aztec pyramids>