You say tomato, they say 'xitomatl' (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

You say tomato, they say 'xitomatl' - New Yorkers channel the Aztecs
by saving a dying language

BY EDGAR SANDOVAL
Tuesday, August 23rd 2011, 4:00 AM
USA

It's the language that gave us the words for chocolate and tomato,
with sounds whose "i" hum lingers in listeners' ears.

Now a small group of New Yorkers wants to make sure the
enigmatic-sounding tongue of the Aztecs, Nahuatl, is preserved in the
Big Apple.

"It's a beautiful language, full of complexities, but it's also
dying," said Irwin Sanchez, 32, a native Nahuatl speaker. "I'm trying
to rescue it, here in the city."

Guided by linguistic experts and community activists, Sanchez has made
it his mission to teach New Yorkers the language his grandfather
taught him as a boy in Texcoco, a Mexican city once ruled by the
Aztecs.

Access full article below:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/23/2011-08-23_ny_fight_for_survival_of_a_language_aztec_tongue_beautiful_complex_but_dying.html