ABSTRACT
The oldest known version of Náhuatl, a member of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family (Greenberg 1987:381), was spoken by the Mexica people in pre-Columbian times. During the expansion of the Aztec Empire, it spread to other parts of Mesoamerica and served many native Americans as a lingua franca. Today, it has regional dialects. The Mexica were the bearers of a strong tradition of music and dance, particularly in the context of religious ceremonies, which they disseminated widely in many parts of what is now Mexico and Central America; like their language, these traits have regional variants in contemporary life.
