> Which language did the Aztecs speak?And the answer: Nahuatl. Currently spoken by 1.5 million people in Mexico, Nahuatl was the main languageof the Aztecs and dates back to the 7th century. It was originally written withpictographic script. Some Nahuatl words that have been absorbed into Englishinclude coyote, avocado, and chocolate.Photo credit: wikicommons.At its height, the Aztec Empire included speakers ofover 40 languages. Nahuatl, in fact, was widespread in the region long beforethe rise of the Aztecs, yet was soon adopted as one of the empire's primarylanguages. While historians and linguists have identified several differentvarieties of Nahuatl, it is best known as the language of the Aztecs from theirrise to prominence in the 14th century until they were conquered by Spanishconquistadors in 1521.​Nahuatl was also the dominant language of the Toltec people. The Toltec were aMesoamerican civilization located in central Mexico between the years 900 and1168. In the history of Mesoamerican culture, the Toltec people served as theblueprint for craftsmanship and civilization that many later societies in thesame area sought to replicate. The Aztecs, for one, based their architecturaldesign off of much of what the Toltec had already created. And, of course, thelanguage of the Toltec quickly became that of the Aztec Empire as well. Listen to the language in action and learn more about its history below.