An invaluable reference work for scholars
of Nahuatl and other linguists, anthropologists, archeologists, art
historians, folklorists, historians, and all whose work requires an
extensive and accurate understanding of Nahuatl--the language of the
Aztecs and of close to a million people in Mexico today.
"Frances
Karttunen's An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl has three principal
merits.
"First, the author takes advantage of such previously
unused sources as the Bancroft Library manuscript and the collection of
phonologically annotated words published by Carochi in his Arte de la
lengua mexicana. This same attention to phonology also takes into
account the modern Nahuatl vocabularies of Tetelcingo and
Zacapoaxtla.
"Second, the use of these sources has made it possible
for Karttunen to indicate both vowel lengths and all explosive glottal
stops, making this the first dictionary incorporating knowledge of Nahuatl
phonology with its lexical coverage.
"Its third merit is the
inclusion of much additional information with each of the
Dictionary's entries: each term's canonical morphological form,
more complete grammatical data, translations with glosses in both English
and Spanish, references to sources, final commentaries, and
cross-references.
"Frances Karttunen has contributed a new and very
valuable working tool for all who are dedicated to the study of Nahuatl
language and culture."
Miguel León-Portilla, Instituto de
Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
