Page 112 - Key to Social Studies 6

Let’s Observe Let’s Connect

Languages That Developed in the Americas The Americas' Languages in the Past vs. Today

Nahuatl
The Mesoamerican Languages in the Past
Being a language of prestige in the
The Mesoamerican area in the past did not have one common language, and there was not a time when
Americas, Nahuatl was spread by the
one language dominated the area. Historians explain that there were around 125 languages in the
Aztecs. They also developed the
Mesoamerican area, where each civilization spoke more than one language. Some languages were even
language into a literary one and used it
unwritten; they were sometimes drawn as most people in these civilizations used gures and symbols as
in poetry, chronicles, and literary works.
their written language.
The Spanish and the English languages
The Central American Languages Today
were also a ected by the Nahuatl
Most countries in Central America today use Spanish as their main language in both speaking and
language after the European conquests.
writing. However, there are still some native languages, but the ones that exist today are fewer than in
Some English words like chocolate,
the past. Mayan languages are the second major languages spoken in Central America after Spanish,
coyote, avocado, and tomato are of
and then there are English and a number of other languages from the indigenous people of the
Nahuatl origin. Americas.
A ceremony reviving the Aztec rituals in Mexico
Quechua

The Inca Empire spread the Quechua

language in an attempt to expand their
Mayan hieroglyphs
empire and make all the people speak a

common language so it would be easier

for them to control.

Quechua is known and still used to date

along the Andes Mountains in countries

such as Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

An indigenous Quechua girl in Peru
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