Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Compared to Selected Nahuatl Word-Concepts

(Alfonso Caso’s "The Aztecs, People of the Sun")

Charles William Johnson

For the past few years, I have been comparing the linguistic correspondence between the Egyptian [Kemi] hieroglyphs and some of the Native Indian languages of the Americas [Johnson, 2004 for Maya and Nahuatl; Johnson, 2006 for Atakapa, Chitimacha, and Tunica; Johnson 2006, for Taino; and, Johnson 2007, for Purepecha]. Much of this work may be viewed on the web-site, Earth/matriX, Science in Ancient Artwork: www.earthmatrix.com.

In these studies, my research shows that the different Native Indian languages of the Americas relate in different ways to ancient Egyptian. With regard to Nahuatl specifically, I find it significant that if the letter “L” is dropped from many of the words of the Nahuatl language of the ancient Aztecs [Nahuas or Mexicas], then similar/same word-concepts appear that resemble the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the language of the Kemi. In fact, it would appear as though ancient Nahuatl without the letter "L" is actually ancient Egyptian. Consider a brief selection of phonemic and morphemic examples in this regard.

[Note.- I employ a combination of capital and small letters throughout this study for emphasis only; they are not presented as such in the original source material.]

The word-concept NAHUATL itself is often interpreted as "something that makes an agreeable sound, or someone who speaks well" [Karttunen: 157]. Further analysis is offered regarding the root NAHUA-, which is said to reflect meanings of "audible, intelligent, clear" having to do with sorcery and spells as well as with language itself. [Karttunen: Ibid]

In ancient Egyptian, Na represents a prefix meaning a negative "no" or "not". In ancient Egyptian one could say Na-HuTR for the meaning of no doubt, as in clear, with the corresponding roots, NaHuaTL [liquid R ~ L]. Other options exist in ancient Egyptian as in Na HuaT, not filth; Na Ha-T, not obscure, also suggesting clear.

I have the impression that the word-concept NAHUATL itself may represent some kind of disguise in the language. The root of the word Nahuatl may be based on the word-concept NAHUAL, whose meaning is given as "a disguise or mask". NAHUALLI = sorcerer; NAGUAL = witch. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs do not contain many word-concepts with the letter "L", while in ancient Nahuatl there exists a widespread use of the letter "L", so much so that it would appear to be a conscious addition to the language itself. Other options to consider for ancient Egyptian: Na Ha-t, no place to hide; Na Ha, no retreat, no going back; Na Ha-t, no land, among others....

THE SOUND OF MEANING: COMPARATIVE LINGUISTICS OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN, MAYA AND NAHUATL In the book Sounds, Symbols, and Meaning: Ancient Egyptian, Nahuatl and Maya, we examine the possible linguistic correspondences among these languages. Interestingly enough, one can identify ancient Egyptian in innumerable words of the Nahuatl language simply by dropping the letter "l" in the latter. Or, one may add the letter "l" to many ancient Egyptian words, and the similarity with Nahuatl becomes striking. Many words between ancient Egyptian and these Mesoamerican languages share a linguistic correspondence on three levels: phonemes, morphemes and even the symbolic or graphic (glyphs and hieroglyphs) level. We discuss the possibility of there having existed a Mesoamerican-Kemi proto-lingua possibly in the past, before these language groups were formed. Download and purchase eBook first in Languages Series Sound of Meaning: Ancient Egyptian, Maya and Nahuatl Author: Charles William Johnson PDF file 154 pages ISBN 0.9755482-04 Price: $13.52US

johnson@earthmatrix.com