Book contents
- Nahua Singers
- Reviews
- Cambridge Latin American Studies
- Nahua Singers
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part IContextualizing the Songs
- 1Performing the Songs
- 2Understanding the Lyrics
- Part IIHistory in the Cantares Mexicanos
- Appendices
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Latin American Studies
2 - Understanding the Lyrics
from Part I - Contextualizing the Songs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 July 2026
Book contents
- Nahua Singers
- Reviews
- Cambridge Latin American Studies
- Nahua Singers
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part IContextualizing the Songs
- 1Performing the Songs
- 2Understanding the Lyrics
- Part IIHistory in the Cantares Mexicanos
- Appendices
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Latin American Studies
Summary
Chapter 2 studies common and sometimes confusing linguistic expressions in the song lyrics found in the Cantares Mexicanos. The chapter breaks down the many elements of the songs, including typical vocabulary, vocables, Spanish loanwords, micropoetics, metaphors, and then contextualizes them in the larger framework of phrases and stanzas. Finally, the chapter considers whole compositions and engages with new understandings of Aztec (or Mexica) songs that suggest the lyrics were composed in layers and woven together into large compositions. The chapter shows that we are now able to study the lyrics with a clearer grasp of the grammar than we used to have and that they are neither wholly abstract nor impossible to understand.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Nahua SingersCelebrating an Indigenous Empire in Sixteenth-Century Mexico, pp. 81 - 126Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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