$2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
number of languages, however, are still spoken by 
hundreds of thousands of natives. 
The linguistic stock having the greatest geographical 
extension within the area under consideration is the 
Nahuan, with which has recently been consolidated the 
great Shoshonean group of languages. ‘This stock may 
be compared to the Indo-Iranian stock of the Old World, 
which comprises most of the modern and ancient lan- 
guages of Europe as well as those of a large part of Asia. 
Within the United States are the numerous Shoshonean 
tribes extending as far north as Idaho. In southern 
Arizona and northwestern Mexico is the Piman group 
of languages that also belongs to the Nahuan stock. 
East of the Sierra Madre are the Tarahumare and 
the Tepehuane. These languages are mutually unin- 
telligible and all are subdivided into dialects. The 
general relationship is proved only through laborious 
comparison and analysis of the words and grammar, 
in the same way as the philologist proves that Persian, 
Greek, Russian, English, and Welsh are all related 
tongues. Farther to the south are still other divisions 
of the Nahuan stock, including the Huichol and Cora 
of the mountainous region north of Guadalajara and 
the Mexican or Aztecan of the valley of Mexico and 
adjacent country. The Mexican language is. still 
spoken by a million or more natives and is divided into 
a number of dialects. Properly the Aztecs are a single 
tribe whose chief city was Tenochtitlan, the ancient 
Mexico City. Mexican colonies were widespread be- 
fore the coming of the Spaniards and during the Con- 
quest the distribution of this nation was made still 
greater. The Mexicans, and especially the natives of 
Tlascala, accompanied the Spaniards on military expe- 
ditions against other tribes and as a consequence many 
place names in southern Mexico and Guatemala were 
