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| Nawat | |
|---|---|
| Nāwat, Nāwataketsalis (Náhuat) | |
| Native to | El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chiapas, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica[1][2][3][4][5] |
| Region | Sonsonate, Ahuachapán, La Libertad, San Salvador, Escuintla, Rivas, Chinandega, Jinotega, Nueva Segovia, Masaya, Matagalpa, Guanacaste, Olancho |
| Ethnicity | 11,100 Pipils (2005 census),[6] 20,000+ Nicaraos |
Native speakers | 500 (2015)[6] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ppl |
| Glottolog | pipi1250 |
| ELP | Pipil |
 Pipil is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Nawat (academically Pipil, also known as Nahuat) is a Nahuan language native to Central America. It is the southernmost extant member of the Uto-Aztecan family.[7] Before Spanish colonization it was spoken in several parts of present-day Central America, most notably El Salvador and Nicaragua, but now is mostly confined to western El Salvador.[3] It has been on the verge of extinction in El Salvador, and has already gone extinct elsewhere in Central America. In 2012, a large number of new Nawat speakers started to appear. As of today, the language is currently going through a revitalization.
In El Salvador, Nawat (Nahuat) was the language of several groups: Nonualcos, Cuscatlecos, Izalcos and is known to be the Nahua variety of migrating Toltec. The name Pipil for this language is mostly used by the international scholarly community to differentiate it more clearly from Nahuatl. In Nicaragua it was spoken by the Nicarao people who split from the Pipil around 1200 CE when they migrated south. Nawat became the lingua franca there during the 16th century.[8] A hybrid form of Nahuat-Spanish was spoken by many Nicaraguans up until the 19th century.[9][10][11] The Nawat language was also spoken in Chiapas by Toltec settlers who inhabited the region for hundreds of years before migrating further into Central America.[12][3][13][14][15]
- ^ "Nawat". March 2021.
- ^ "Nawat Language in Central America".
- ^ a b c Mc Callister, Rick (2013). "Náwat – y no náhuatl. El náwat centroamericano y sus sabores: Náwat pipil y náwat nicarao". Revista Caratula.
- ^ "2 Ways Nahuatl Helped Shape Nicaraguan Spanish".
- ^ "Nahuatl Placenames In Nicaragua". 25 August 2018.
- ^ a b Nawat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Campbell, Lyle (January 1, 1985). The Pipil Language of El Salvador. Walter de Gruyter. p. 5. ISBN 978-3-11-088199-8.
- ^ Fowler, William Roy, The Pipil-Nicarao of Central America, Thesis or Dissertation. Ph.D., Archaeology, University of Calgary, 1981 also published as a book by Univ of Oklahoma Press (June 1989), ISBN 0-8061-2197-1
- ^ "An Overview of Nicaraguan Spanish".
- ^ "Language".
- ^ "Nawat Language".
- ^ "Nawat Language in Central America".
- ^ "Toltec Culture".
- ^ "Toltecs".
- ^ "The Toltec Empire".