Aztec Language 

The Aztec language was called N'ahuatl. The Aztecs developed a system of pictures which they used as sort of an alphabet. They had hundreds of different symbols to use in their vocabulary. Nouns were easy to draw - they drew a cat as a cat and drew a fish as a fish and so on. They joined them together to form sentences, and used them to write down stories and keep records. Words that joined the nouns into sentences were extremely difficult to draw. The art of writing was very specialized and also difficult to learn. Scribes needed to know a lot of extra information that wasn't written down because the pictograms only gave a clue to the full meaning. Aztec picture writing was mainly done by priest or scribes. They were the only ones who could read the pictures. The Aztecs wrote about their history and religious ceremonies. They also wrote poetry. First the scribes sketched the outline with charcoal. The pictures were then brightly colored with vegetables, minerals, insects and shells. Aztecs also had books called Codices. The books were long strips of paper that folded like an accordian. At each end of the strip was a piece of wood that would act as a cover. Both sides of the paper were written on and it could be read top to bottom or left to right. They were normally 20 centimeters wide and 50 meters long. They were made from deerskin or tree bark.