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Aztec | |
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Script type | Pictographic and logosyllabic
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Creator | The Nahua peoples |
Time period | Most extant manuscripts from the 16th century |
Direction | Anywhere |
Languages | Nahuatl |
Related scripts | |
Sister systems | Mixtec |
The Aztec or Nahuatl script is a pre-Columbian writing system that combines ideographic writing with Nahuatl specific phonetic logograms and syllabic signs[1] which was used in central Mexico by the Nahua people in the Epiclassic and Post-classic periods.[2] It was originally thought that its use was reserved for elites, however, the topographical codices and early colonial catechisms, recently deciphered, were used by tlacuilos (scribes),[3] macehuallis (peasants), and pochtecas (merchants).[4]