VALUE OF ANCIENT MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS TOZZER. 503 



Mexican writing and say that the Nahuas had reached, to a slight 

 degree, this final stage in their writing. We have seen how an a 

 sound in the place names is always expressed in their writing by the 

 sign for water, ail. So other signs which formerly stood for entire 

 syllables seem in some cases to have been used to express the initial 

 sound of the syllable. The sign of a flag, pantli, came in time to be 

 used for the initial sound p, the sign for eil, bean, was worn down to 

 express the initial e sound, and the sign oili, for road, to be used for 

 an o sound. I am inclined to think, however, that the Nahuas in pre- 

 Columbian times did not realize the importance of the step which they 

 were about to take, the use of signs for single sounds, an alphabet. 

 In the few cases where this seems to be found we have the idea of a 

 syllabary rather than an alphabet as the il of ail, eil, and oili, is a 

 nominal ending and the word in composition can stand without this 

 suflrx. The signs for a, e, and o are really signs for syllables composed 

 of single sounds rather than for single letters as distinguished from 

 syllables. 



The Nahuas in the pre-Columbian period did not develop the 

 syllabary to the point shown in later times. There are no early texts 

 in the true sense of the word written in the Nahua characters. The 

 Spaniards were the ones to realize the importance of the syllabary 

 and it is undoubtedly owing to their influence that certain signs are 

 found used in later manuscripts to express certain syllables absolutely 

 for their phonetic value and entirely divorced from the signification 

 of the signs as pictures. Moreover, the Spaniards seem to have used 

 to some extent at least the signs of the Nahuas to express single 

 sounds. 



We have already noted the work of the Spanish priests in their 

 endeavor to teach the natives the creed of the Roman Church. In 

 tins case the ideas are expressed quite apart from the sounds of the 

 words. The pictures could be understood quite as well by one people 

 as by another. The missionaries were not content with this. They 

 desired the Nahuas to learn the actual sounds of the words of the 

 catechism. They took advantage of the ability of the natives to 

 read in signs denoting syllables. The priests selected native words 

 which had the same initial sounds as the Latin or Spanish words winch 

 they wished the Nahuas to commit to memory. The signs for these 

 native words were then written in the native manner. The Lord's 

 Prayer is usually given as an example of this kind of writing. 1 



1 Torquemada, 1723. Book xv, chap, xssvi, writes: "El Vocablo, que ellos tienen, y que mas tira a, 

 la pronunciation de Pater, es Pantli, que significa una como Banderita, con que cuentan el numero de 

 veinte; pues para acordarse del Vocablo Pater, ponen aquella Banderita, que significa Pantli, y en ella 

 dicen Pater. Para la segunda, que dice Nosier, el Vocablo, que ellos tienen mas parecido a esta pronun; 

 ciacion, es Nuchtli, que es el Nombre de la que los nuestros llaman Tuna, y en Espafia Higo de las Indias- 

 pues para acordarse del Vocablo Noster, pintan consecutivamente tras de la Banderita, una Tuna, que ellos 

 llaman Nochtli; y de esta manera van proosiguiendo, hasta acabar su Oracion; y por semejante manera 

 hallavan otros semejantes Carecteres, y modos, por donde ellos se entendlan, para hacer Memoria de lo 



